In March 2025, Dimitris Kyriazidis sparked outrage after being caught on a live mic telling Zoe Konstantopoulou, the leader of Pleusi Eleftherias, to “go have a kid.” At the time, MPs across the board, including his own New Democracy colleagues, pushed him to apologize.
He seemed not to grasp what he’d said, was expelled from the parliamentary group on the spot, and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis later condemned the remark from the floor of Parliament. Despite showing no remorse, Kyriazidis was readmitted to the parliamentary group a few months later.
On Tuesday afternoon, he found himself back at the center of a similar episode. Rather than apologizing for the sexist remark, he doubled down and cast himself as the victim, insisting his comment wasn’t sexist but a well-wish, a claim that drew a sharp reaction from across the political spectrum in Parliament.
He argued he was being slandered, saying that for a year and a half the other side had called his group pedophiles and criminals, and that his comment was simply a wish for her to have a child, made after a school-related exchange touching on children’s innocence and accusations that his side was harming the country’s future.
“Unrepentant Sexist”
His remarks drew an angry response from SYRIZA MP Elena Akrita, who stood up in protest, and from Pleusi Eleftherias MP Alexandros Kazamias, who called him an unrepentant sexist. Kazamias said Kyriazidis was being sexist, crude, and a bully, and demanded he retract the vulgar remarks he’d made off-mic against Konstantopoulou and Akrita. Giorgos Lambroulis also weighed in from the chair, saying Kyriazidis’s own conduct and inappropriate comments were derailing the actual matter at hand.
“Political Trash”
SYRIZA’s Christos Giannoulis used harsh language too, saying there’s no room in a discussion about culture for what he called political trash, adding that the remark had no place in parliamentary conduct. He said if the New Democracy leadership and parliamentary secretary have any sensitivity left, it’s time to be done with such behavior.
Culture Minister Lina Mendoni also condemned the conduct, saying she regretted the comments made about Konstantopoulou because they diminish Parliament’s standing, and that whether it was Kyriazidis now or Polakis before, the remarks had sexist undertones that she found deeply regrettable.
PASOK’s Pavlos Christidis said Kyriazidis was unrepentant, arguing this wasn’t a one-off slip but a repeat offense, and called for his expulsion from the New Democracy parliamentary group. Fellow PASOK MP Katerina Spyridaki likewise condemned the comments.
Zoe Konstantopoulou herself spoke as well, calling Kyriazidis “a mirror of Mitsotakis” and describing the attack as extreme, even calling it vicious. She thanked those who defended her, especially the women in the chamber.
