The latest inflammatory statement by the alternate health minister, this time taking issue with a European Parliament candidate from rival New Democracy (ND) for using favorable provisions to acquire appointment to Greece's public health system (ESY) as a physician, generated a firestorm of criticism in the country.
The crescendo of opprobrium against Minister Pavlos Polakis reached all the way to Parliament in the form of a proposed censure motion by the main opposition, with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras later saying he'll treat the motion as a "confidence vote" for his hard left government.
The motion is expected to come to Parliament's floor after Orthodox Easter on Sunday, just a couple of weeks before European Parliament elections
"If you vied for equal opportunities, Mr. Kympouropoulos, you would have submitted your papers for (the position of) an attending physician in ESY for examination by a (hiring) council, as all other physicians, and not like this (under more favorable conditions for people with special needs). It's a shame you say things like this," Polakis wrote via his preferred mode of communication, Facebook.
His unprecedented reaction came in reply to Stelios Kympouropoulos' statement that "I never used (affirmative action) credits, subsidies, favors; I want equal opportunities".
Kympouropoulos (@Kympouropoulos), a psychiatrist by training, has been confined to a wheelchair with very limited overall mobility since a teenager, when he was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy. He was Greece's first-ever handicapped flag-bearer of a secondary school, after a relevant law was changed to allow him the honor as the valedictorian. After finishing the Athens medical school with honors, he studied in a post-grad program overseas with a scholarship.
Polakis later tried to qualify his statements, referring to a "distortion" of his comment, and saying he was exercising "political criticism."
His comment was roundly criticized by the political opposition, groups representing people with mobility problems, and even SYRIZA members.
Later in the afternoon, the Athens Medical Assocation said a disciplinary hearing would be convened to examine Polakis comment. The latter is an intensive care physician and surgeon.
