Double Standards: Father stripped of his savings over unpaid taxes while heavily indebted parties shield themselves against seizures

An unemployed single father on the island of Rhodes delivered his 2-year-old son to his local tax office in a symbolic gesture of protest after authorities seized  €300 remaining in his bank account because of unpaid levies.

According to local newspaper Rodiaki (link in Greek), the 35-year-old man, who has been without a job since February, made the gesture to highlight the fact that, instead of protecting some of his family’s essential needs, the state chose to seize his remaining funds. “I am trying to raise my young child by myself with dignity. My mother, who lives in another city of Greece, had deposited €300 in my account so we could get through the month,” he told Rodiaki.

Somewhat ironically, the story broke as two lawmakers from the ruling coalition successfully introduced an amendment to a draft bill on political funding  to parliament on Wednesday which protects parties that are heavily indebted to banks, from seizure of almost half the funds they receive from the state on the grounds that they need a  ‘minimum amount of income to remain sustainable’.  

The amendment secures 40% of the funding that parties receive from the state from seizures. The proposal by conservative MP Kostas Karagounis and Pasok MP  Yianis Koutsoukos was accepted by Interior Minister Argyris Dinopoulos and voted through on Wednesday.

Both parties of the coalition, Pasok and New Democracy, reportedly owe a combined total of €250 million to Greek banks, and have struggled with cash flow problems for years.

Opposition lawmakers voted down the amendment charging it was crafted to serve the interests of the ruling parties who are over their heads in debt.  

Minister of Interior Argiris Dinopoulos also accepted amendments to a bill banning parties from receiving anonymous donations.

The amendments would allow parties to accept a total of €150,000 annually from anonymous donors using special fundraising coupons. Opposition parties said the amendment would legalise black money.

The Council of Europe’s Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) had urged Greece in 2010 to ban political parties from receiving donations from anonymous sources for fundraising purposes.