The departure of Michalis Bekiris from his duties as director of the prime minister’s parliamentary office — following opposition backlash and persistent questions about his appointment — has reinforced the strategy of Alexis Tsipras’ allies to spotlight corruption cases that, in one way or another, implicate the ruling government.
Tsipras hardens stance against the government after Bekiris resignation
The spokesperson of the Greek Left Alliance, Theoni Koufonikalakou, had previously raised a series of pointed questions — including whether Mr. Bekiris holds a university degree, how he came to be hired in the prime minister’s office, how he is compensated, and whether he has submitted the mandatory financial disclosure declaration.
Following the departure of the prime minister’s close associate, Koufonikalakou issued a statement making clear that Bekiris’ exit does not close the case — quite the opposite. “In reality, it opens it,” she said. “The government never answered the most basic questions: How did he end up in this position? Under what institutional framework? With what qualifications? Who was paying him, and how much? Who was overseeing him?” She then added: “And there is one more question the government must answer without evasion — is the timing of this departure a coincidence? Or does Bekiris’ resignation have something to do with yet another murky affair, that of Mr. Liolios?”
It is worth noting that this story was originally broken by the newspaper Documento, which continued to pursue its reporting right up until the very end.
The Bekiris resignation comes on top of three other corruption cases that have dominated public attention in recent days: the basketball scandal, a major tax evasion case involving a well-known restaurant chain, and a subsidy controversy surrounding New Democracy MP Spyros Koulkoudinas. The former prime minister has made a deliberate strategic decision to bring these corruption scandals to the forefront — particularly at a moment when the cost-of-living crisis is weighing heavily on Greek society.
Alexis Tsipras even posted a video drawing a pointed comparison between the unfolding scandals and the iconic film The Godfather, adding with biting sarcasm that he intends to recommend a similarly themed film each week, inspired by current events.
For its part, however, the ruling party’s press spokesperson pushed back sharply in an interview, questioning “how it was possible that, for years, an entire web of wrongdoing went undetected by oversight mechanisms — only for certain cases to suddenly surface in the run-up to elections.” She went on to speak of a “corruption record” under the previous SYRIZA government, listing a string of serious scandals including the Tempi train disaster, the referral of Triantapoulos to trial, the wiretapping scandal, OPEKEPE, direct public contract awards, and the squandering of public funds.
Commenting on the tax evasion cases, including the Pizza Fan affair, she noted that “oversight mechanisms failed to function anywhere,” and that these cases only came to light through judicial investigations and complaints filed with the Financial Prosecutor’s Office. She concluded with a pointed question of her own: “One thing worth asking is whether the oversight mechanisms actually worked in the basketball case — and whether, at the tax authority AADE, an entire network was allowed to operate for so many years, completely unchecked.”
