Minister of State Nikos Pappas on Wednesday evening said an unconstitutional ruling by a Greek high court of a controversial law on broadcast licensing will mean “we’re returning to the former situation”.
The minister and close adviser to Greek PM Alexis Tsipras has attracted the sharpest criticism over the legislation that is unofficially called the “Pappas law. On Wednesday evening he appeared on the primetime newscast of one of his harshest critics, Athens-based Skai television.
Pappas admitted that a court ruling against the government’s law will generated an “issue” with two of the four winners of four auctioned licenses, as the two are new to the television sector.
He also appeared to soften his stance vis-à-vis current broadcasters who failed to win a license, saying he’s open to changes in a future draft amendment on implementing the law. A previous amendment that prescribed a five-day deadline with which unlicensed national broadcasters must cease operations was hastily withdrawn.
