The opposition’s request to summon Tal Dilian and Grigoris Dimitriadis before the Parliamentary Committee on Institutions and Transparency in connection with the wiretapping scandal has been rejected. Makis Voridis, the ruling majority’s rapporteur, outlined the reasoning behind the rejection, stressing that Dilian and Dimitriadis “are not public figures” and that “there is nothing substantial left to add, as everything has already been said.” “Grigoris Dimitriadis has held no public office since his resignation in 2022. He has appeared before Parliament twice and said everything he had to say. Are we going to call him back simply because he gave a public interview?” the New Democracy MP for Eastern Attica asked rhetorically.
What Makis Voridis said about the wiretapping case
“The request violates the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure because it does not call for the appearance of public figures as required, and those individuals have already been summoned before. Calling anyone simply because they gave an interview is a trivialization of the committee’s purpose. We are requesting that the motions be rejected,” Voridis stated emphatically.
For his part, Committee Chair Thanasis Bouras argued that there was no justification for a new hearing, citing Article 43A of the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure — specifically the provision stating that “the committee may summon for a hearing state officials, as well as any public figure on matters relating to the functioning of institutions and transparency, whose attendance is mandatory.”
Referring to Grigoris Dimitriadis, Bouras reminded committee members that the former Secretary-General to the Prime Minister had already appeared before the committee and answered all questions put to him, and that he had since assumed no government role. According to Bouras, the request was based on “an interview he gave as a private citizen,” and he questioned which specific clause of Article 43A could justify summoning him, given that Dimitriadis had already accepted political responsibility for the affair and resigned — facts that, as Bouras noted, are on the official record.
Regarding Tal Dilian, Thanasis Bouras stated that “there is no issue concerning the functioning of institutions and transparency that would justify summoning a private Israeli citizen,” and moved to remind the committee that the Israeli businessman had previously been called before the Investigative Committee but failed to appear. He also noted that a court ruling had already been issued in connection with the case.
“We are walking out of this committee”
The opposition, for its part, persisted in demanding the summoning of both individuals, invoking its rights under the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure (specifically the 2/5 threshold provision). “We are walking out of this committee! Good day!” declared Panagiotis Doudonis, the main opposition party’s rapporteur, adding that “we will not allow you to violate the Parliamentary Rules of Procedure and the Constitution.”
Doudonis also moved to remind committee members that back in 2022, New Democracy itself had summoned the Israeli businessman before the Committee on Institutions and Transparency. Meanwhile, SYRIZA’s rapporteur Dionysis Kalamatianos condemned what he described as a “parliamentary deviation.”
Zoe Konstantopoulou, speaking at the same time, denounced what she called “thuggish behavior” on the part of the committee’s presiding officers and the ruling majority. “What kind of a lowlife wrote these interpretations? They’re laughable. I think he’s sitting to my left — he gets upset because he always wants to be on the far right,” she remarked pointedly, addressing her comments directly at Makis Voridis.
