Antonis Samaras

The Greek Parliament will decide on Friday whether or not to request the prosecution of 10 prominent politicians named in a bribery scandal involving the Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis, in the final phase of a parliamentary inquiry into the case.

A prosecutor on Thursday shelved legal suits lodged against government officials and prosecutors by former prime minister Antonis Samaras, ex-finance minister Evangelos Venizelos and former health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, now European migration commissioner, over bribery claims involving Swiss drugs firm Novartis.

The long-running saga of a parliamentary investigation into a bribery scandal involving the Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis will enter its final phase on Friday, as the House will meet to discuss and vote on the final committee report.

A decision by Defense Minister Panos Kammenos to receive the leader of a minor nationalist party and an independent MP planning her own right-leaning movement at the ministry on Friday fueled speculation about a possible bid to form a right-wing movement ahead of possible snap elections.

New Democracy and the Movement for Change, the newly-established center-left party, are on the same page with respect to key issues, the vice president of the conservative opposition, Adonis Georgiadis, said Wednesday.

The response by the center-left Movement of Change on Tuesday to an overture made by former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras via an article in Sunday's Kathimerini was particularly cautious.

In his piece, Samaras described the new center-left party as a "necessary partner" in a broader coalition of the types that governed Greece from 2012 to 2015.

A corruption prosecutor investigating the Novartis bribery case ordered on Tuesday the opening of ten bank accounts and disclosure of other assets belonging to the prominent politicians named in the case file.

Former health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos on Thursday said that he will not respond to a summons to appear before a special parliamentary committee investigating allegations that several high-ranking former officials took bribes from drugs firm Novartis.

Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras will not be appearing next week before a parliamentary inquiry into allegations that several high-raking ex-officials received bribes from drugs firm Novartis.

In a letter addressed to the chairman of the committee, leftist SYRIZA MP Theodoros Dritas, Samaras said that he has "no intention" of attending next Tuesday's session.

All opposition walked out of Tuesday's session of a parliamentary committee that is supposed to be investigating the Novartis affair as coalition lawmakers insisted that the probe focus on whether the panel is in fact competent to continue with the investigation or whether it should be returned to prosecutors.