A relevant Parliament committee on Wednesday approved – via a majority of member-deputies – the appointment of Vassili Thanou-Christofilou as the new president of the country’s competition watchdog authority, despite a firestorm of criticism by the opposition alluding to a direct conflict of interest.
Thanou-Christofilou was nominated by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and will step down from the latter’s top legal counsel in order to assume the reins of the competition committee, a four-year tenured position. Previously, Tsipras had nominated Thanou as the caretaker prime minister ahead of the September 2015 elections, whereas Cabinet ministers had spoken favorably of her desire to remain as supreme court president even after reaching the mandatory retirement age of 67.
On his part, main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis this week addressed a letter to relevant European Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager to denounce what he called a petty partisan choice for the competition committee’s president.
Wednesday’s vote was also noteworthy for the fact that committee members elected with ultra-nationalist Golden Dawn (Chryssi Avgi) party joined members of leftist SYRIZA, the ruling party, to vote in favor of Thanou’s appointment. Critics in Greece and abroad charge that Golden Dawn is a thinly veiled, if not outright, neo-Nazi grouping.
Besides SYRIZA and Golden Dawn, MPs from the junior coalition party, the small right-wing Independent Greeks (AN.EL) and even the Union of Centrists, approved of the appointment. The other members voted against, with Communist Party MPs declaring “present”.
In statements to committee members, Thanou said she would impartially carry out her duties, while telling reporters afterwards she claimed that no one could force her out of the post in the next four years unless she resigned, saying the authority was “independent”.
She also denied that her unpaid position of director of the prime ministerial legal office was “political” in nature, and definitely not a party position.
On his part, former PASOK minister Vangelis Venizelos, asked Thanou to clarify, in light of ND’s objections, if she’ll have her resignation at the disposal of the next government.
A general election will be held in Greece no later than early October 2019.
