The body of former PASOK party minister Sifis Valyrakis was recovered on Sunday evening in a sea region off an islet in the southern Evoikos Gulf, hours after his wife reported that she could not contact him during a boat trip.
The veteran lawmaker, 77, had gone boating alone in an inflatable craft. The craft was first spotted beached on a rock islet, with the motor running.
A major search and rescue operation merely retrieved Valyrakis' body from the water near another islet.
An autopsy on the exact cause of death is pending.
Valyrakis was among the founding members of once dominant socialist PASOK party, serving as public order minister, among other government and party posts, in 1995.
Condolences poured in from the country's political leadership.
