Othon Iliopoulos, an MP from the Greek diaspora, resigned on Saturday evening.
The news came as a complete surprise to those closely following the Greek political scene, as Iliopoulos had been one of the most prominent Greek Members of Parliament (MP) from the left-wing main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance party.
In a letter, Iliopoulos explained the reasons that led him to this decision.
“The emerging political scene in the country and the defense of fundamental rights of our citizens require a daily presence as well as even longer periods of stay in Greece,” Iliopoulos noted.
“With a sense of responsibility for the obligations I have undertaken, I submit my resignation from the position of state deputy,” he wrote.
Greek MPs represent their citizens in the designated constituencies of the country. Fifteen of the total 300 MPs are “state deputies.” Instead of representing a particular constituency of the Greek state, they are chosen by their respective parties. Each party elects a number of state deputies proportional to their national vote share.
Among those 15, parties must choose Greeks who live and work abroad to represent the Greek diaspora. Iliopoulos was one of the three state deputies elected by the main opposition SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance party.
In his letter, Iliopoulos made public that he wished for the next representative of the Greek diaspora to take his place. This happens to be Stefanos Kasselakis, the leader of the party who was elected following former PM Alexis Tsipras’ resignation after his party’s crushing defeat in the national parliamentary elections of June 2023.
“I hope that my resignation will not deprive my compatriots of the diaspora of their representation. I am resigning in favor of the other expatriate on our ballot, the elected President of SYRIZA, Stefanos Kasselakis, Iliopoulos noted.
It has to be noted that the main opposition leader Kasselakis is not a member of Parliament, as he was not elected last June.
Who will replace Greek diaspora MP Iliopoulos?
It remains unclear who will replace Iliopoulos.
There are two conflicting opinions on this matter. The first one suggests that if a member of the diaspora resigns, then the best person to replace that MP would be another member of the diaspora who was part of the state ballot. In this case, that would be Stefanos Kasselakis.
However, others claim that being a member of the diaspora is not a criterion. Therefore, the next in line would have to be the one to replace the resigning MP.
In that case, Popi Tsapanidou, a prominent Greek journalist who joined the SYRIZA party last year will have to take the parliamentary seat.
Who is Iliopoulos, SYRIZA’s MP for the Greek diaspora
Othon Iliopoulos is a prominent Greek physician, academic, and politician.
He studied at the School of Medicine of the University of Athens and then completed his studies at the Universities of Wisconsin-Madison and Harvard. There, Iliopoulos specialized in pathology and oncology.
Currently, he is an Associate Professor of Oncology at Harvard. This makes it more difficult for him to be present in Athens.