The Greek parliament will vote on Friday on a non-confidence motion filed by the main opposition Syriza party (EU Left) against centre-right New Democracy (EPP) after it was confirmed that secret services had put under surveillance a current minister, the head and another three staff members of the armed forces.
Greece’s privacy watchdog, the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE), confirmed earlier this week that Labour Minister Kostis Chatzidakis, the head of armed forces Konstantinos Floros and three high-profile military personnel had been put under surveillance by the secret services.
Main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras immediately called on the Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to resign.
The latter has never admitted that he was aware of these wiretapping cases and had claimed that a “dirty network” within the secret services may be behind the wiretapping, although the first law he enacted as prime minister was to take intelligence services under his remit.
Both Floros and Chatzidakis have adopted the government narrative that the prime minister was not behind their surveillance while the opposition is publicly stating he is “blackmailing” them with data collected from their bugged phones, hence their support toward Mitsotakis.
Meanwhile, socialist lawmaker Evangelos Venizelos, an influential politician, stepped in and lashed out against Mitsotakis, calling on him to give clear answers.
“The issue of the Armed Forces leadership, its prestige and the secrecy of its communications requires that the PM himself immediately formulate a reasonable, evidence-based response and reliably inform at least the party leaders”, Venizelos said.
The opposition parties push the government to reveal the reasons behind the surveillance. For now, the government refuses to do so, citing national security reasons.
For its part, the opposition is wondering how the armed forces chief can be trusted if national security concerns are against him.
On a procedural level, the ruling New Democracy party has a 156-member majority in the 300-seat parliament, and no surprises are expected.
However, on a political level, the opposition says if the ruling party lawmakers back this government, they will also bear a heavy political responsibility for the so-called “Greek Watergate”.
Chief prosecutor puts Greece’s rule of law to the test
Greek chief prosecutor Isidoros Ntogiakos caused shockwaves on Tuesday after he ruled that the independent authority responsible for privacy issues (ADAE) cannot conduct audits to telecommunication companies to find out who is under surveillance by Greek secret services.
Meanwhile, the scandal has raised eyebrows in Brussels.
The European Parliament’s PEGA committee made recommendations earlier this week asking to take the secret services off the PM’s hands.
In addition, it demanded to provide the Greek privacy watchdog (ADAE) – which carries out audits on telecommunication companies in accordance with the Constitution – with full protection after the attacks it received from the government as well as top justice officials.
“The way the Greek authorities are handling the clarification of the matter is an alarm signal that the country is already on an advanced path towards an autocratic state,” told EURACTIV Hannes Heide, the S&D coordinator in the European Parliament’s PEGA committee.
New poll
The Mediterranean country will hold elections by the summer, and the wiretapping scandal is considered an open wound.
According to a poll published on Thursday, New Democracy ranks first with 30.2%, followed by leftist Syriza 24.3% and socialist Pasok 10.5%.
Asked what the main concern is, 46.3% of the respondents cited the high prices, followed by the lack of transparency (15.6%).
Last but not least, 88.6% of respondents said they would vote based on the issue of high prices criterion.
(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
