A question submitted to the Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister Mr. Lebanon, the M. Katsis, Sectoral Head of Voting Governance of SYRIZA - PC and the N. Gara, Deputy Minister of Communication and Information of SYRIZA - PS, on how the ERT presented the Kyriakos Mitsotakis' feast in Ikaria, but also the letter of instruction on the matter in question.
The question tabled was:
In the afternoon of Saturday 06/02, the Social Media were flooded with images of the Prime Minister, who, in violation of every rule, participates in a party with friends and politicians at the home of the Southwestern Democrat MP Christodoulos Stephanadis. These images are making the rounds on the internet.
But what hundreds of thousands of citizens saw was not seen by ERT. The unprecedented happened: the announcement of SYRIZA's press spokesman PS on the mocking party of Mr Mitsotakis was read on the newscast without playing even half a shot of the video and photos that had flooded the internet. They thought that in this way they would spare Mr Mitsotakis from the mockery of the citizens.
The issue was played for the first time at noon on Sunday 07/02 and in order not to repeat the «mistake», the...invisible editor-in-chief ordered a cover-up. A «top-down» order of blatant censorship.
An order prohibiting journalists and producers of ERT from reproducing audiovisual material from the Icarian coronation, with the Prime Minister himself participating, as well as audiovisual material showing Mr. Lignadis with Mr. Mitsotakis, who chose him for the National Theatre.
These are practices that go back directly to the past and to the YENED. However, the responsible Deputy Minister, Mr. Livanios, had the political courage to come to the Parliament and say that «the way ERT operates has changed» and that «they make their own rationing» without anyone calling them. It seems, after all, that for the Southwest and for him, written interventions and orders are preferable.
Since under the Staff State Law, ERT is directly under the Prime Minister.
The Deputy Minister of State is asked:
- Did the censorship and cover-up order have the approval of Maximos?;
- Is the ERT administration legal to interfere in such an undemocratic way in the journalistic work and the operation of the Public Broadcasting Service?;
- It's true that the issue made it into the news programming, only after there was a government response?;
- Was this order made with the knowledge of the ERT's administrative scale (General Directorate of Information, News Directorate, Political Reporting Department)?;
- Who took the initiative and assumed administrative responsibility for implementing this mandate?;
- Does he continue to claim that «ERT's management hierarchy is not party-coloured», as he stated on 08/02/2021 in Parliament?;
- Does he continue to claim that ERT's news bulletin «does not come either from the Prime Minister's General Secretariat, or from the General Secretariat for Information, or from anywhere else», as he stated on 08/02/2021 in Parliament?;
- What steps will it take to hold the Commission to account for this incident?;
- What measures will ERT take to ensure that such practices are not repeated?;
