Novartis

For over one year the Novartis affair has fueled constant political tensions and it will be a central issue in the forthcoming general election, which is to be held by October at latest.

To Vima on Sunday reported yesterday that Corruption Prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki (photo) has told the Judicial Council that she expects the case to be wrapped up within the next six months.

With the alleged Novartis bribery scandal falling apart and failing to deal a blow to its political opponents, the government has reportedly found itself on the back foot almost a month before European and local elections.

An apology means nothing under the law, Panagiotis Pikrammenos said in a statement on Thursday. The mere mention of his name in the Novartis file 14 months ago was a premature yet pretty clear sign of what the affair's real objectives were. 

Straight on the heels of the judiciary's decision to close his case file regarding possible involvement in the Novartis scandal for lack of any evidence, former caretaker PM Panagiotis Pikrammenos has said that the Novartis scandal in Greece was set up by politicians who attempted to exploit real corruption in the pharmaceuticals industry in order to harm their political opponents.

With one of its most prominent MPs, Andreas Loverdos, about to testify as a suspect in the Novartis case if his parliamentary immunity is lifted, the centre-left Movement for Change is charging that the entire affair is a conspiracy staged jointly by SYRIZA and the Karamanlis faction of New Democracy.

There can be no doubt that the Novartis scandal is real. It is international and is being investigated in various countries, especially in the US, and it involves bribes paid to doctors, researchers, and clinical labs.

The involvement of politicians, if it is true, is not the main issue, at least based on the exceptionally strict probe by US authorities.

A section of the case file on the alleged Novartis bribery scandal that prosecutors forwarded to Parliament to request that the immunity of former health minister Andreas Loverdos be lifted includes testimony by protected witnesses who claim that the politician was bribed to inform the company of an imminent haircut on Greek state bonds at the peak of the debt crisis.

It was no surprise that the investigation into the Novartis case has yielded its first results during a pre-election period. Regardless of what one may think about this concurrence, it cannot be denied that the political timing mandates that the investigation be wrapped up as soon as possible. 

After more than 14 months of incriminating leaks, "activism" by ministers in the corridors of the Greek judicial system, mock "trials" in Parliament and public calls for the incarceration of suspects, no charges have been pressed against anyone over the so-called "biggest scandal since the establishment of the Greek state" - the probe into the practices of Swiss drugmaker Novartis.

Opposition New Democracy on Tuesday accused the leftist-led government of fabricating the alleged Novartis bribery scandal to divert the public's attention from the controversial name deal signed last year with North Macedonia.