The Greek socialist party (Pasok) refuted assumptions by the main opposition Syriza party that the conservative government is blackmailing its leader Nikos Androulakis through a wiretapping scandal to influence post-election coalition talks, Pasok sources told EURACTIV.com.
The scandal erupted last summer when MEP and Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis found that secret services attempted to bug his phone with Predator spyware.
Analysts suggest that Pasok, which steadily ranks third in polls, will be a kingmaker’s role in the next elections as a new electoral law will be implemented, and a coalition government will be needed.
Tensions escalated earlier this week when Syriza spokeswoman Popi Tsapanidou said the Greek prime minister “may know secrets of Androulakis and can blackmail him”, thus affecting the post-election coalition talks.
“Pasok didn’t just disregard the horrific allegations of Syriza spokesperson as ‘nonsense’, but has also denounced them as they remind of Goebbels’ practices, aiming to distort facts and construct an alternative reality”, a Pasok source told EURACTIV.
The source explained that Nikos Androulakis, from the very beginning, denounced the failed attempt to blackmail both him and the party.
“Any implications pointing that there is material from his surveillance that makes him politically blackmailed are abject. He is still now the only Greek politician with a verified attempt to hack his phone with Predator, and it was thanks to his actions in Greece and Europe that the scandal of illegal wiretapping was discovered,” the source said.
The source added that Androulakis has filed a legal complaint against the attempt to hack his phone and requested both the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) and the Hellenic Data Protection Authority (DPA) to investigate his case.
He also requested to defend his parliamentary immunity and an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights to learn the reason for his wiretapping, the source said.
“To present a failed attempt as a certainty, as if he and the party are being blackmailed, is not just a mistake, but an inexcusable effort to distort reality for your ones’ personal benefit,” the source added.
However, following the scandal, the government admitted that the secret services bugged Androulakis’ phone without using Predator but through “legal surveillance”.
The Pasok source commented that there is “no legal” surveillance of an MEP.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has personal control over secret services, said he was unaware of Androulakis’ surveillance and fired the intelligence chief.
The government still refuses to reveal the reasons of the socialist leader’s surveillance, citing national security.
For its part, the main opposition and Renew Europe MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld insist that the scandal should be sorted out before the upcoming elections.
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(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
