ATHENS, Oct. 25 (Xinhua) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday expelled Member of Parliament Andreas Patsis from the ruling New Democracy (ND) party's parliamentary group, Greek national news agency AMNA reported.
Patsis was accused of corruption by opposition parties over the purchase of "red loans" amounting to 63 million euros for only 4.3 million euros through foreign companies, as well as 1 million euros he received for giving legal advice to Hellenic Post S.A., the state-owned provider of postal services in Greece, within two years.
Shortly after the PM's decision, Hellenic Post CEO George Constantopoulos submitted his resignation from the post for reasons of personal integrity.
General elections will be held in Greece next year. The conservative ND party retains a lead over opposition parties in all recent opinion polls.
ND won the July 2019 elections, securing 158 seats in the 300-member strong assembly. (1 euro = 0.99 U.S. dollars) ■