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Angry, but relieved Dora Bakoyannis left New Democracy after voting in favour of adopting the package of economic reforms that the government offered as a guarantee that Europe and the IMF will grant assistance of €110 billion. "I did not leave the party, I was ordered out," noted Ms. Bakoyannis in an interview for Kathimerini, and said that her party colleagues were determined to get her out of the party. Now an independent MP the former minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece in the Kostas Karamanlis’ government, she believes that many things will change in the country and denies any scenarios for cooperation with Prime Minister George Papandreou. 

After thirty-five years in New Democracy, Ms. Bakoyannis notes that she was ordered out because of a serious topic on which it was "inconceivable that council of the parliamentary group was not convened to make an official decision. I wanted such council o be convened, but when I saw that this will not happen, I personally wanted to meet the leader of the party. I explained to him that we cannot oppose the bill from the very beginning because its vote is a condition for the economic aid to Greece to be granted.” 

"The position adopted by Antonis Samaras will be harmful. He said 'no' to the package of support to Greece and sent a very negative message to the dozens of parties in the EU, which at the same time are struggling to pass the vote for the package in their own parliaments. Furthermore, he showed major political forces in Greece being divided on such a serious topic. New Democracy must realize that it is neither in the place of the Communist Party nor the coalition SIRIZA," said Ms. Bakoyannis in an interview for Kathimerini. 

"What was I supposed to do?! To invest in the bankruptcy of Greece in order to take political benefit. This is called political speculation," said Ms. Bakoyannis, explaining that the aim of all must be the success of the salvation plan, because otherwise Greeks will pay the price of the strict measures and a possible bankruptcy, if they do not succeed. "There comes a time in which you need to go against the tide when the mind and the public interest requires it," concludes Ms. Bakoyannis. 

As foreign minister in the government of Kostas Karamanlis, Ms Bakoyannis said that if she could turn back time, she would have acted in a different way. She admitted that her biggest mistake was that she did not raise her voice when she noticed that the fear of political price, which the government would have paid in case it undertook the reforms, did not stop it. "So far we called our mistakes ‘experience’ and kept on going unperturbed. But this time there is a dead end street. I had promised not to repeat the same mistake, regardless of the consequences and this is exactly what I did on Thursday," said Ms. Bakoyannis and added that "this great crisis will change a many things in Greece. Who and to what extent certain people can be part of the renewal of the country, will depend on who and whether they can contribute not to repeat the mistakes of the past and create a new understanding of the country's future.”