OPEKEPE is Greece’s state body responsible for administering and checking agricultural subsidy payments. The committee voted by majority at its final meeting to extend its work until Friday 27 February and to adopt the timetable for submitting findings.

PASOK and SYRIZA supported the new deadline, but said they strongly disagreed with the way the committee has operated. They argued that the inquiry was brought to a premature close, with the exclusion of critical witnesses and without the necessary cross-examinations of specific individuals. They accused the government majority of an organised cover-up and described the closure of the committee as an ‘illegitimate, arbitrary decision’.

The Greek Communist Party (KKE), Course of Freedom, the New Left, Greek Solution, a far right party, Niki, a far right party, and independent MP Alexandros Avlonitis opposed the proposal. They called for the committee’s work to continue so that, as they claimed, crucial witnesses who had been deliberately excluded could be examined. They accused the government majority of another attempt to cover up what they described as a ‘huge blue scandal’, using the colour commonly associated with New Democracy.

Earlier, opposition MPs attacked New Democracy, accusing it of rushing to cover up and ‘distort’ the truth by terminating the committee’s procedures.

They recalled the rejection of proposals to establish a preliminary investigation committee, as well as requests submitted at previous meetings to summon witnesses covering the period 2019–2025. They also repeated calls for cross-examinations involving the pairs Voridis–Varras, Avgenakis–Simandrakou and Babasidis–Tycheropoulou, which the government majority did not accept.

Two people were due to testify at the committee’s final session. The first, Moschos Korasidis, had begun his testimony last Thursday but did not finish due to the late hour. The second was former New Democracy minister Sotiris Hatzigakis.

The rapporteur for the government majority, Makarios Lazaridis, said:

‘The work of the parliamentary inquiry committee on the OPEKEPE case was completed today. Five months, 76 witnesses, of whom 55 were from the New Democracy government period, 50 meetings and 350 hours of sessions proved:

– New Democracy was right to establish an inquiry committee and not a preliminary investigation committee, as the testimonies of crucial witnesses, such as former minister of rural development and food Stavros Arachovitis, did not result in criminal liability for former ministers Makis Voridis and Lefteris Avgenakis.
– The organisation’s long-standing, cross-party problems.
– SYRIZA’s enormous responsibilities for the implementation of the technical solution.
– The existence of “green locusts”, such as the cronies of the president of PASOK – Movement for Change, Nikos Androulakis, in Crete.’

He added that ‘the New Democracy government will continue reforms for the benefit of people working in the primary sector, so that subsidies reach only honest farmers, livestock breeders, fishermen and beekeepers’.

Opposition parties responded angrily, accusing the majority of managing the committee in a way that prevented it from completing its work and demanding that new witnesses be examined.

PASOK rapporteur Milena Apostolaki said:

‘The investigation was carried out as a communications diversion and to diffuse responsibilities. The way the majority managed the committee serves the cover-up emanating from the Maximos Mansion. Critical witnesses were excluded and ministers from the previous century were examined. This is an unacceptable mode of operation that proves an organised and methodical cover-up.’

SYRIZA rapporteur Vasilis Kokkalis said:

‘Today the door is closing on restoring OPEKEPE’s credibility and carrying out a purge. The OPEKEPE case continues even today. From yesterday’s interview with the prime minister, it is evident that he had knowledge. He knew. And this shows an intention to cover up. The scandal is one, indivisible, and bears one and only one signature: that of the Mitsotakis government.’

Nikos Karathanasopoulos of the KKE argued that the inquiry should continue, saying it had again been confirmed that it was a political decision by New Democracy not to form a preliminary investigation committee. He said the aim was to cover up the scandal and spread blame over time so that only ‘the tree, and not the forest’ would be visible. He called for further witnesses, including prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to be summoned and for cross-examinations to take place.

Hussein Zeybek of the New Left and independent MP Alexandros Avlonitis said the committee had not completed its work.

Konstantinos Boubas of Greek Solution and Giorgos Rountas of Niki also called for the committee’s work to continue.

The same demand was made by Course of Freedom leader Zoë Konstantopoulou, who said:

‘We do not cooperate and do not legitimise the cover-up operation, when we learn that a new case file is coming with 50 MPs in it. You only want to cover up and obscure information and responsibilities. The committee must not complete its work.’

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