Parliament President Zoi Constantopoulou announced the establishment of an Audit Committee of Public Debt in a joint press conference on Tuesday, with ruling SYRIZA MEP Sofia Sakorafa and Belgian expert on odious debt Eric Toussaint, in charge of the committee team of experts.
Constantopoulou underlined that setting up a committee is the least that can be done for the Greek people and the European community to ensure justice and truth. She explained that the committee will investigate which part of the loans Greece received was wasted on bribery and corruption practices, which part is legal and which is odious and illegitimate and therefore, not owed. The committee will convene on April 7 or 8 and its initial conclusions will be presented in an international conference on public debt in June.
SYRIZA MEP Sakorafa, who will coordinate the international team, underlined that the Greek people will learn the truth about everything that led to the memorandums.
On his part, Toussaint said that the committee will show which part of the debt is legal and which is odious and non sustainable, the repayment of which does not allow people to enjoy their fundamental rights.
He wondered why the previous government did not activate such a procedure, noting that the committee will give answers to all questions raised and, in cooperation with the Greek Parliament, it will also examine the period before 2010 focusing on armaments, Olympic Games, transport, Siemens and the Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation (OTE S.A.) contracts.
The Parliament president's move was criticised by opposition parties, however, with main opposition New Democracy accusing Constantopoulou in an announcement of "systematically violating all notions of cross-party dialogue and consultation" and "having become a major problem for the national Parliament".
Opposition Potami also accused Constantopoulou of overstepping her authority by launching the process at a time when neither the prime minister or finance minister were talking of a debt haircut and "adopting Panos Kammenos' agenda." The party urged the prime minister to step in and clarify the Greek position.
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) also criticised the move as "unilateral" and as seeking to "legitimise" the debt while opposition PASOK dismissed it as a "new television show by the Parliament president," conducted in violation of Parliamentary rules.
Far-right Golden Dawn said that a debt audit and write-off of odious debt was a standing position for the party, "as well as resistance to the loan-shark policy of the creditors, to which SYRIZA has completely submitted."
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Greek Parliament is set to present the initiative of the Audit Committee of public debt and the promotion of the Parliament's international cooperation with the European Parliament, the parliaments of other countries and other international organizations on debt issues. The aim of this initiative is that the debt audit Committee be a very powerful negotiating tool of society, the people, and overall, the European peoples and societies.
The Committee would be formally presented at a press conference on Tuesday. During the presentation the president of the Parliament Zoi Konstantopoulou, European Parliament member Sofia Sakorafa and Eric Toussaint, specialised in issues of high debt are going to give speeches.
Source: Skai Tv, ANA-MPA
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