Novartis vote looms
Parl’t to decide Wednesday whether to probe 10 politicians over bribery claims
Political tensions have peaked as MPs prepare for a vote in Parliament on Wednesday on whether to establish a parliamentary committee to probe the alleged bribery of 10 Greek politicians by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
A debate on the matter is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday with voting not expected before midnight. Parliament Speaker Nikos Voutsis has proposed that 10 separate ballots be held, one for each politician alleged to be involved in the scandal and the offenses they are accused of. The suggestion has been rejected by the conservative opposition New Democracy and others who argue that the government is trying to put on a show to distract public opinion from the slow-moving negotia- tions on the Macedonia name issue and a spike in tensions in the Aegean. Despite the objections, however, it is likely that 10 votes will be held, and it is possible that ND will boycott them.
If Parliament approves the proposal that politicians be probed, it is considered likely that an investigation will last a few weeks, with witnesses summoned to testify in connection with each politician. Then, once the committee presents its findings, either another vote will be held to indict one or some of the politicians or the case file will be returned to the judiciary who are already attempting to trace the trail of the alleged kickbacks paid to politicians.
Until then it is likely that political tensions will continue to rise. Already the Novartis affair has provoked a daily exchange of barbs between ruling SYRIZA and ND officials.
Yesterday European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos, who was Greece’s health minister between 2006 and 2009, took legal action against two of the three protected witnesses on whose testimony prosecutors have built their case, saying that “not one word” of their claims is true. The move came after former conservative premier Antonis Samaras on Thursday sued Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos and several Greek prosecutors. Papangelopoulos accused the former premier of trying to intimidate the judiciary.