SYRIZA administration

A proposal by 30 government lawmakers will reportedly be submitted to the Greek Parliament Monday asking for the convening of a plenary session to discuss the expansion of the indictments against former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, who is accused of politically motivated interference in the investigation into the Novartis bribery case.

Greece's budget has passed on from the primary surplus overruns from 2015 to 2018, to the precise achievement of the target for 3.5 percent of gross domestic product last year, and is now set to register a primary deficit this year due to the coronavirus.

Labor Minister Yiannis Vroutsis on Thursday responded to accusations of incompetency by opposition parties over a series of problematic distance training voucher programs for scientists and self-employed professionals which were scrapped on Wednesday amid widespread criticism that they were makeshift and of low quality.

One day after Greek-Israeli businessman Sabby Mionis accused former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, the publisher of Dimokratia newspaper Ioannis Filippakis and two journalists of blackmail in 2016, the parliamentary committee probing the handling of the Novartis case by the former SYRIZA administration on Thursday summoned ex-digital policy minister Nikos Pappas to testify

One the two key whistleblowers summoned to testify by the parliamentary committee conducting a preliminary inquiry into the handling of the Novartis bribery case by the former SYRIZA administration has repeated previous claims that he has no evidence against politicians, Kathimerini understands. 

The government has responded to intensifying demands to ease the pressure on the five eastern Aegean islands that are on the front line of the migration/refugee crisis by creating new detention facilities. It has responded to the demand for the immediate transfer of tens of thousands of asylum seekers to facilities on the mainland by planning to put them behind walls on the islands.

Former education minister Costas Gavroglou hailed a ruling by the Council of State which approved a change in the mission statement of the ministry as an "important day" for promoting the distinct roles of State and Church.

Greece's highest administrative court ruled that the Education and Religion Ministry does not violate the constitution by no longer including in its responsibilities "developing a student's religious conscience."

Greece's Education Ministry on Thursday ordered the immediate suspension of plans to open 37 new university and technical college departments that had been announced by the previous leftist administration prior to the summer's election period, speaking of an ill-designed and opportunistic reform.

A special parliamentary committee that will be inquiring into the merit of claims of political interference in the Novartis bribery case is set to start choosing witnesses on Tuesday afternoon.