ATHENS – Pavlos Polakis, a lawmaker and provocateur from the SYRIZA party, has been removed from the party’s ballot in upcoming elections after a social media tirade against journalists, bankers, and judges. His comments were condemned by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), a media freedom group that tweeted, “pluralism is much needed in Greece, it cannot be achieved by dangerous targeting of individual journalists.”

#Grèce : RSF condamne l'appel du député d’opposition & ex-ministre de @syriza_gr, Pavlos Polakis, à se "débarrasser" de 15 journalistes en raison de la ligne éditoriale de leur média. Si le pluralisme est nécessaire en 🇬🇷, il ne peut être atteint en menaçant des journalistes. pic.twitter.com/O5PDk5C9Zp

— RSF (@RSF_inter) February 27, 2023

SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, trying to cut into a 6 point lead by the Conservatives, rebranded the party as Progressive to replace its name as the Radical Left and called a meeting to decide Polakis’ fate. Polakis, a surgeon who was an alternate health minister in the SYRIZA government, had previously defied the law by smoking where he wanted, including at a World No Smoking Day news conference.