“What else does Makarios Lazaridis have to say for the prime minister to dismiss him from his duties,” say SYRIZA officials who characterize the actions of the deputy minister of Rural Development as a monument to “fraud.” Yesterday, with his statement, he admitted that he was illegally receiving additional money from the public sector and even requested to return it.
Read also: Famellos to Mitsotakis: How does Lazaridis hold you? – Will you put the wolf to guard the sheep
“We were ultimately right about everything regarding Makarios Lazaridis. After two weeks of evasions and lies, today he confessed,” say the Koumoundourou officials who point out that he is now a fraudster and illegal by his own statement: “I myself request the full, interest-bearing assessment of any amounts unduly paid to me.” However, today’s statement by Mr. Lazaridis is not enough… A serial liar cannot be a member of the government,” the same people emphasize.
SYRIZA officials believe that the prime minister is “trapped” in the OPEKEPE case and that’s why he doesn’t decide to send his government’s deputy minister home. “He cannot admit that one week after the mini-reshuffle he is forced to send home the replacement of the deputy minister of Rural Development.”
At the same time, the same people believe there is a major political and ethical issue after Makarios Lazaridis’s admission of ignorance regarding his appointment. “According to current provisions, I could be hired in the position of special collaborator as a high school graduate, given that my degree was not recognized by the then DIKATSA, after checking the documents requested from me and which I submitted to the competent service. If I should have been appointed as a special collaborator and not as a special advisor, this happened without any intervention or choice on my part,” the deputy minister of Rural Development stated in yesterday’s post, creating particular sensation throughout the political world.
As SYRIZA officials note, even the admission of ignorance is reprehensible since an ordinary citizen can be convicted if they claim ignorance of the law. They add that the government put this political figure, who today declares he didn’t know under what regime he had been hired, as the majority rapporteur in the investigative committee for OPEKEPE, where obviously someone must know the laws very well.
Sokratis Famellos, speaking yesterday in Parliament, referred to the issue saying “we are not all the same, Mr. Mitsotakis. You cannot mention SYRIZA and the most honest governance of the post-dictatorship period. Let’s go to the name you didn’t dare to mention: Makarios Lazaridis,” and added “How does Mr. Lazaridis hold you, Mr. Mitsotakis? I ask, will you put such a person, who deceived the Greek State, to control OPEKEPE subsidies? Will you put the wolf to guard the sheep.”
