ATHENS, GREECE, Nov 17, (AP): Former Greek prime minister and lawmaker Antonis Samaras was expelled from the ruling New Democracy party over his persistent criticism of government policies. Samaras, 73, a hard-line nationalist, has criticized Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ approach to negotiations with Turkey, which he has likened to appeasement. He also strongly disapproved of government policy that he considered too "centrist” or "woke".

The government appeared particularly irked by a Samaras interview to be published in Sunday newspaper To Vima in which he called for the ouster of Foreign Minister George Gerapetritis over his conduct of negotiations with Turkey. "Mr Samaras ... did not just express opinions. He expressed his complete disagreement with all governing policies. Moreover, he adopted extreme lies (about the foreign minister) in an unbecoming and provocative manner,” said government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis in announcing Samaras’ expulsion Saturday afternoon.

Samaras responded in a lengthy statement, saying, "Arrogance and loss of nerve explain Mitsotakis' move. Cut off from the party base, he is leading a party that scarcely resembles New Democracy.” It is not the first time that Samaras has clashed with a Mitsotakis. In 1992, then-Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis, father of the current premier, dismissed Samaras as foreign minister over policy differences regarding the name dispute with what was then the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the present North Macedonia.

In 1993, Samaras and a few like-minded lawmakers left New Democracy, bringing down the Mitsotakis government and ushering in more than 10 years of socialist rule. Samaras founded his own short-lived party, Political Spring. Samaras succeeded former Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as head of the conservatives in 2009, but left the post after an electoral defeat in 2015.

"This time, history will not repeat itself. The government majority continues its course, without Mr. Samaras,” said the governent spokesman. "No one has the right to mess with the country’s stability in these troubled times,” said Marinakis. The ruling conservatives have a slight majority in Parliament, with 155 lawmakers out of 300. But Samaras has a number of supporters among that group, as does the now retired Karamanlis.