ND lawmaker says he is against MP immunity vote, will abstain

Stelios Petsas, a lawmaker with the governing New Democracy party, said connected Tuesday helium is against lifting the immunity of 13 colleagues named successful a lawsuit record relating to a ungraded implicit the organisation of EU cultivation subsidies successful Greece, and will so abstain from the applicable vote which is scheduled connected Wednesday.

Petsas, a erstwhile minister, claimed such a determination would beryllium a slippery slope, making lawmakers vulnerable to frivolous ineligible enactment for doing their job.

“I judge that sending a connection asking if something tin beryllium done [about a specific case] – arsenic Mr. [Dimitris] Vartzopoulos has done – oregon sending an email – arsenic Mr. [Notis] Mitarakis has done – intelligibly falls within their governmental activity,” Petsas told Skai channel, referring to two of New Democracy’s lawmakers named successful the ongoing probe.

“Therefore, my volition is not to vote to assistance immunity for them due to the fact that it creates a very slippery slope where each MPs will beryllium persecuted for immoderate contented that falls within their parliamentary duties and governmental activity.”

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged enactment MPs to vote successful favor, pointing to statements by the MPs themselves who said lifting their immunity will let them to wide their name. “I cannot travel that determination so I will abstain from the vote,” Petsas said and urged different ND lawmakers who want to vote successful favour to rethink their position.

He said helium has informed the enactment of his intention.

Apart from Petsas, lawmaker and erstwhile curate Makis Voridis has besides been vague astir his intentions. Voridis, who served arsenic agriculture curate from 2019 to 2021, had besides been named successful a abstracted lawsuit record compiled by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office connected the ungraded that was forwarded to Parliament past year, but was cleared by a parliamentary panel which cited deficiency of evidence.

Parliament will determine connected the 13 lawmakers successful a plenary league connected Wednesday, aft a parliamentary morals committee past week unanimously recommended lifting their immunity. The probe focuses connected alleged payments to cronies, sometimes based connected fraudulent claims, by the now-defunct OPEKEPE state bureau that disbursed European Union workplace subsidies.

The ungraded has shaken Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government, forcing the resignations of Cabinet members and damaging ND’s canvass standing.