On the approval of the marriage equality bill and the disagreements within the ruling party, Minister of State Akis Skertsos spoke on the “Today” show on SKAI.

Asked if he would characterize the vote against the bill by ND MPs as a crack, the Minister of State said that “on the contrary, the Prime Minister has managed the matter in a way that indicates wisdom and is primarily based on his own liberal philosophy and understanding. The prime minister said that this is a necessary reform that includes us in the area of ​​freedoms and rights to which 36 countries worldwide of the western world belong and the Greeks live and work and enjoy rights in the western world that when they come to Greece they do not have. Therefore, in order to solve a series of practical problems that people face in Greece when they come from abroad, we took this initiative, we harmonized, that is, Greek law with European law, European legislation and jurisprudence”.

The Minister of State also emphasized that “precisely because these issues are identity and touch on sensitivities, it is difficult to change one’s opinion within a few weeks. That’s why we didn’t put party discipline as a hard line, something that SYRIZA did, which says it’s a progressive party. What we did was for the prime minister to say that the executives who have disagreements can either abstain or vote against it without this meaning that we will argue internally.”

“The ND has always been a liberal faction since the post-colonial period where this does not lead to war and rupture. It is a broad faction, a generous faction in terms of the exchange of ideas, arguments and opinions,” he added.

With reference to those voices that talk about the loss of the ND’s conservative identity, the Minister of State emphasized that “the ND is a liberal, popular, European, reformist party and everything we implement comes to implement the dictates of the Constitution.

Asked about the tough attitude of Antonis Samaras yesterday in the Parliament, Mr. Skertsos said that “I want to keep from yesterday’s vote that we are talking about social rights that require wider consents and it is a good moment for the Greek Republic that five parties voted in favor of this legislative initiative. This is how societies move forward.

“It is very important to keep a political note, a political conclusion: on critical social issues we must also seek consensus, we can even agree with our political opponents on some things without it meaning that political differences such as we can disagree even within the same political family without this leading to a rupture”.

Regarding the attitude of the Church, Mr. Skertsos said “that the Prime Minister said “the things of Caesar to Caesar and the things of God to God”, there are distinct roles and as we do not intervene in the internal and theological issues of the Church respectively and the Church can expresses its views, but the State must regulate the issues related to its constitutional powers”.