To Potami party sinks under weight of Prespa agreement

To Potami MP Spiros Lycoudis today resigned his post as deputy parliament speaker, even as the party lost it status as a party in parliament because there were fewer than the requisite five MPs left after defections.

The conference of parliament deputy speakers did not immediately accept Lycoudis’ resignation but is expected to do so, as To Potami no longer has a parliamentary group in the legislature, and the deputy speakers are nominated by their parties before being confirmed by parliament.

Already in crisis, the small centre-right party was demolished by internal disputes over ratification of the Greece-FYROM Prespa Agreement.

Earlier, MPs Yorgos Amyras and Grigoris Psarianos had resigned from the party and declared themselves independent, as they oppose the Prespa Agreement and do not want to back the government on a crucial issue.

In a Facebook post, Psarianos announced that he is parting ways with the party. He bid farewell to its members, underlined that political mistakes were made, and conceded that he bears his share of the blame.