Government accused of turning parliament into ‘theatre of the absurd’
Greek opposition parties walked out of parliament during a debate on a wiretapping scandal on Friday in a protest at what they described as yet another government cover-up.
“We will not legitimise today’s theatre of the absurd. We will leave you alone on your downward slide, Mr Mitsotakis – a slide with no end,” the opposition, Socialist PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis said.
The scandal first erupted in 2022 after Androulakis discovered that there had been an attempt to infect his phone with Predator spyware. He later learned that his phone had also been under surveillance by the national intelligence services.
Numerous politicians, journalists and business figures were subsequently identified as victims of Predator, with alleged overlaps between the spyware operations and state intelligence surveillance.
The Greek intelligence services fall under the direct authority of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the prime minister.
The opposition accused the government of illegally purchasing and deploying the spyware against Greek citizens. The government, however, has consistently denied acquiring the software.
While the government rejected any political involvement in the affair, the private company linked to the case is currently on trial.
The controversy intensified after Tal Dilian, a former Israeli intelligence officer and head of Intellexa – one of the companies associated with Predator – told Mega TV that his firm only sells its products to governments.
An Athens court subsequently requested that the case be reopened to examine possible espionage offences, a move later rejected by Greece’s Supreme Court.
The Socialist party then tabled a proposal to establish a parliamentary inquiry committee to examine the new evidence. Although the law allows a minority of 120 MPs in the 300-seat parliament to initiate such a committee, the government invoked national security grounds to require an enhanced majority of 151 votes instead.
Given its parliamentary majority, the government was able to block the proposal.
Greek Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis defended the work of the intelligence services, saying that it was all legal. “If the intelligence service is monitoring them legally, why should it also be illegally monitoring the same people?” he asked.
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