Parliament: Morning Problems in the Pre-Investigation Debate – The Clock, Objections, and Tensions

With about a half-hour delay due to an issue with the timing console at the Speaker’s desk, the debate began in the Plenary session for forming a committee on the Tempi case. Tensions arose from the submission of objections during the procedural process for establishing the Pre-Investigation Committee, including complaints and pre-announcements of abstentions from voting. The cause of these objections is the method of preparing ballot papers, as not all alleged offenses are aggregated under each proposed individual indiscriminately by proposal. Instead, voting will occur per proposed person based on each submitted proposal. The President of Syriza, Zoi Konstantopoulou, accused New Democracy of ‘tricks to cover up that there was no crime and that it wasn’t actively concealed by the prime minister.’ She criticized that this proposal method was agreed upon by New Democracy and PASOK, arguing the vote should be on the offenses for which each person should be investigated, distinguishing offenses rather than party proposals. Additionally, she strongly disagreed with ND and PASOK’s decision to strictly enforce the 11-minute speaking time limit, even for party presidents. Parliament Speaker Nikitas Kaklamanis responded preemptively to those who would raise similar issues, stating that ‘for 50 years post-dictatorship, similar votes have occurred on submitted proposals. This happened in the case of the OSCE Convention 717 Pre-Investigation Committee and the ‘Lagard List’ case. This method isn’t because someone wants it but because Article 86 of the Constitution and Articles 153, 154, and 155 of the Standing Orders dictate it,’ adding, ‘I understand why they don’t like this method, but we won’t change it for that reason.’ Mr. Kaklamanis also noted that in DTP 18 members-agreed with the procedure against 8 who opposed: ‘You can’t respect majority decisions when they favor you and protest them when they don’t.’ PASOK’s parliamentary representative, Dimitris Mantzos, urged against turning the process into a witch hunt, saying citizens expect investigation causes, not oppositions. He disagreed with the substance of the procedural objection and reminded SYRIZA of the ‘Lagard List’ case while advising KKE to focus on concealment issues. Observing legally, he noted charges per proposed individual must align with the legal rationale of the proposal. SYRIZA’s parliamentary representative, Christos Giannoulis, criticized ongoing cover-up operations and fast-track processes, lamenting restrictions on ‘conscientious MPs, even from the majority, wanting to investigate if Costas Karamanlis’s only offense was withholding funds and personnel from OSCE.’ KKE’s parliamentary representative, Nikos Papathanasiou, condemned a predetermined process to control leaks, wash away causes leading to the crime, and generally absolve historical culprits. Greek Solution’s parliamentary representative, Konstantinos Hitas, asked why each MP couldn’t vote on all offenses for one person. ‘We’ announced, ‘won’t abstain or absent ourselves from today’s session; we’ll fight until the end.’ New Left’s parliamentary representative, Nasos Iliopoulos, said ‘Justice doesn’t decide or investigate ‘packages’ per proposal but specialized acts and individuals.