Greece’s often Kafkaesque political arena will take an even stranger turn on Wednesday, as 10 individual ballot boxes will be set up in Parliament for deputies to vote for or against the establishment of a committee of inquiry into the recently emerged Novartis case.
The 10 ballot boxes correspond to 10 past or present politicians – including two former prime ministers, Greece EU Commissioner and the current central bank governor – named by two out of three “protected witnesses” as allegedly involved in shady dealings with Novartis’ Greek subsidiary. Under immunity laws in place for current and past ministers in the country, such cases must eventually be tabled in Parliament.
The entire Novartis case and the abrupt emergence of the nearly three-year judicial probe – a day after a mostly anti-government mass rally in downtown Athens was held over the fYRoM “name issue” – has generated shrill reactions by Greece’s political opposition and charges of a conspiracy, partially in order to deflect public opinion from economic woes and also to damage top political opponents – Antonis Samaras, Evangelos Venizelos and even BoG Gov. Yannis Stournaras.
The decision for 10 individual ballot boxes was supported by a majority (14 to eight) of deputies on a relevant committee, all MPs belonging to the leftist-rightist coalition government, as well as MPs from the Communist Party (KKE).
The criminal offenses related to the testimony – over the past three months and in installments – by the protected witnesses refer to bribery, kickbacks and money laundering.
According to Parliament President Nikos Voutsis, a Parliamentary committee of inquiry – if the majority proposal is acccepted – will have 21 members, and with an initial deadline of a month in order to issue a report over what the Tsipras government calls the “Novartis scandal”.
