Regarding the OPEKEPE scandal, the Parliamentary Committee, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister George Mylonakis, as well as the primary sector, PASOK president Nikos Androulakis spoke out. Specifically, speaking on ANT1 on Thursday morning (2/10), the PASOK president stated: “Their audacity is a major disadvantage for politics and an advantage for New Democracy.”
He continued: “This is the party that orchestrated a procedure in Parliament on the Preliminary Investigation proposal, an unprecedented procedure to prohibit justice from investigating, to ‘whitewash’, what? The fact that they didn’t call any of the ‘blue’ boys, the ‘thugs’ who threatened people, and they called 3 dead people and talk about ‘whitewashing’.”
Subsequently, regarding Mr. George Mylonakis, Nikos Androulakis characteristically said: “Mr. Mylonakis is not coming to the investigating committee, he is being ‘dragged’ to the investigating committee, because PASOK and the other opposition parties exposed an issue: that there are allegations here, that he himself knew matters concerning the OPEKEPE investigation. Shouldn’t he have come?“
“When a prime minister gives orders to weaponize Article 86, to cover up and prohibit justice from investigating his ministers’ responsibilities, anything else is outside reality,” he mentioned at another point.
Nikos Androulakis: European Prosecutor’s Office has set up camp in Athens
Furthermore, when asked if this constitutes a cover-up, Nikos Androulakis responded: “The European Prosecutor’s Office has set up camp in Athens, we have Ms. Kovesi here today talking about Article 86, so what are we discussing? When you don’t allow Mr. Karamanlis to be investigated, based on the European case file, is this a cover-up or not? When you do the same for OPEKEPE and wiretapping, is it a cover-up or not?”
Nikos Androulakis: There are already delays and problems in farmer compensation
Additionally, regarding whether farmers will receive compensation, Mr. Nikos Androulakis emphasized: “There are already delays and problems, which is why we are pressing for these problems to be resolved. The primary sector is in dire condition[..] The primary sector is critical for Greece. We place great emphasis on farmers and livestock breeders.”
“We say Article 86 should be revised. I told the prime minister this in early December when I met him. Mr. Mitsotakis says he wants to change it, but uses it with Mitsotakis logic. We propose changing Article 86 for 4 years,” he said at another point.
Regarding Athens Mayor Haris Doukas, the PASOK president said: “These are expired issues.” “PASOK’s goal is for New Democracy to go into opposition and PASOK to govern,” he also noted. “My duty was to go to the Thessaloniki International Fair and say what I propose: Reforms worth 2.6 billion are not what Mitsotakis and Tsipras proposed in my position. Don’t compare me with them. People will compare both our proposals and our ethics. I propose different rules,” Nikos Androulakis mentioned at another point.
