The critical debate on the lifting of the immunity of a total of 13 New Democracy MPs («11+2»), who are involved in the two separate cases of the European Public Prosecutor's Office on the scandal of the OPEKEPE, is currently underway in the Plenary Session of the Parliament.
The MPs who have resigned are presenting their defence from the floor of the Parliament, while the political attention turns to the upcoming vote, which is expected to highlight internal cracks in the ruling party.
The debate process
The plenary procedure is conducted in two distinct cycles. The first concerns the 11 Members who are being investigated for the offences (of a misdemeanour and, for two of them, a felony) of instigating dishonesty or instigating a breach of duty.
The 11 MEPs on this list are:
- Katerina Papakosta
- Costas Achilleas Karamanlis
- John Kefalogiannis
- Panayiotis Mitarakis
- Konstantinos Tsiaras
- Konstantinos Skrekas
- Dimitrios Vartzopoulos
- Maximos Senetakis
- Vassilios Vassiliadis
- Christos Boukoros
- Theophilos Leontaridis
The second round of statements focuses on the second case, which involves MPs Charalambos Athanasiou and Tasos Hadjivassiliou, with the charge of the misdemeanor of inciting to breach of duty.
Tsiaras: «Our role is not to be mere observers»
The former minister, Kostas Tsiaras, opened the dance of the statements. Referring to the involvement of his office, he explained that the case concerns the question of a farmer of Karditsa about whether the damage from «Janos» would affect his subsidy («greening»).Mr. Tsiaras defended the action of his colleagues, stressing that there was no «formality» to the services. «Is the MP's role to simply observe the facts or to act on local community issues?» He asked, noting that he had full confidence in the institution of the European Public Prosecutor's Office.
Mitarakis: «I request myself the lifting of my immunity»
In his own apology, Chios MP, Notis Mitarakis, clarified that the only involvement of his office was the simple forwarding (by email) of a local request to the competent services of the Ministry of Rural Development, «without any judgment or other action on our part».Mitarakis stressed that «the forwarding of correspondence is a political process», adding that politicians «have a presumption of guilt and not a presumption of innocence». In conclusion, he explicitly asked the House to vote in favour of lifting his immunity, citing personal and political reasons, in order to clear his name «without shadows».
The background of the vote and the «blue» leaks
Despite the positions of the controlled MPs, the big political interest lies in how the parliamentary group of the Southwest will react to the vote. According to reports, the reported MPs will not take a unified stance on whether they wish to have their immunity lifted.Moreover, there is a strong reluctance from many majority MPs to vote to lift the immunity of their colleagues. Stelios Petsas has already announced that he will abstain from the procedure, while it is estimated that the abstention or no-vote stance of some MPs will also serve as an indirect political message to the Maximou building, in view of the upcoming preparation of the ballot papers.
