Stelios Petsas, a lawmaker with the governing New Democracy party, said on Tuesday he is against lifting the immunity of 13 colleagues named in a case file relating to a scandal over the distribution of EU agricultural subsidies in Greece, and will therefore abstain from the relevant vote which is scheduled on Wednesday.
Petsas, a former minister, claimed such a move would be a slippery slope, making lawmakers vulnerable to frivolous legal action for doing their job.
“I believe that sending a message asking if something can be done [about a specific case] – as Mr [Dimitris] Vartzopoulos has done – or sending an email – as Mr [Notis] Mitarakis has done – clearly falls within their political activity,” Petsas told Skai TV, referring to two of New Democracy’s lawmakers named in the ongoing probe.
“Therefore, my intention is not to vote to lift immunity for them because it creates a very slippery slope where all MPs will be persecuted for any issue that falls within their parliamentary duties and political activity.”
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged party MPs to vote in favor, pointing to statements by the MPs themselves who said lifting their immunity will allow them to clear their name. “I cannot follow that decision so I will abstain from the vote,” Petsas said and urged other ND lawmakers who want to vote in favor to rethink their position.
He said he has informed the party of his intention.
Apart from Petsas, lawmaker and former minister Makis Voridis has also been vague about his intentions. Voridis, who served as agriculture minister from 2019 to 2021, had also been named in a separate case file compiled by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office on the scandal that was forwarded to Parliament last year, but was cleared by a parliamentary panel which cited lack of evidence.
Parliament will decide on the 13 lawmakers in a plenary session on Wednesday, after a parliamentary ethics committee last week unanimously recommended lifting their immunity. The probe focuses on alleged payments to cronies, sometimes based on fraudulent claims, by the now-defunct OPEKEPE state agency that disbursed European Union farm subsidies.
The scandal has shaken Mitsotakis’ government, forcing the resignations of cabinet members and damaging ND’s poll standing.