One of the first things that Syriza says it intends to do if it comes to power is to crack down on the country’s powerful and influential oligarchs, root out corruption and reform the country’s problematic state.
As an active member of the parliamentary committees set up to investigate the country’s most infamous corruption scandals, Syriza member Zoe Konstantopoulou, an attorney, is expected to play a pivotal role in the anti-austerity party’s ambitious plan to instill the concept of accountability and justice in public life.
According to TTP journalist Vasiliki Siouti, her assertive demeanour in parliament has already earned her the nickname of;‘Robespierre’ among critics, who accuse her of wanting to set up guillotines at Syntagma Square! . .
“A functioning justice system is a bet for democracy, and accountability,” she said in an interview to Siouti this week.
“Public life must be reformed”.
And, with or without guillotines, Konstantopoulou said this is something her party can achieve.
“The people have for years nows been hearing these words and from everyone,but have not seen any actions,” she said.
“We have already shown in practice what we can do, with actions,” she said, claiming that her party, Syriza, has nothing to do with the disdain people feel towards politicians, as just two parties, Pasok and New Democracy, have governed the country in the last four decades.
“The notorious ‘all’ (politicians) are none other than these two,” she said. “None but them have governed for the past 40 years.”
War reparations
Konstantopoulou said that a Syriza government will also seek war reparations from Germany and the repayment of a forced loan taken out by the Nazis during Greece’s German occupation in World War II:
“Its’our moral and historical obligation..it’s a given that we won’t back down.”
The scandals
To Syriza and other opposition parties, as well as large chunks of the electorate, the country's (implicating both Pasok and New Democracy) ‘flagship’ scandals have been the ones involving the bribery of government officials by German telecommunications giant Siemens, to secure lucrative contracts, and the notorious Lagarde list involving wealthy individuals suspected of large-scale tax evasion – implicating the former Pasok Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou over his alleged tampering of the list.
Konstantopoulou claimed that as an active participant of the parliament committees set up to investigate these scandals, she was subjected to sexism and vulgar language.
“It was blatantly clear to me that this was a method of attempted moral and mental exhaustion to make me back down, but it was the wrong choice against the wrong person,” she told the TPP.
“The government’s investigation into the Lagarde List’s case is ‘moving at a turtle’s pace,” she said, charging that this delay was scandalous and a way to facilitate defendants like Papaconstantinou,
“They would bring in through the back door amendments which allowed account holders on the Lagarde List to take black money out of the country.”
“There is a lot that has not seen the light of publicity and there is scheming so they never do,” she said, vowing that a Syriza government would strive to bring all the evidence out in the open.
“Of course something can be done,” she said.
And one of the ways Syriza says it plans to usher in a sense of accountability in public life is by lifting the legal immunity enjoyed by Greek ministers.The one case in which immunity was lifted involved the former finance minister.
In her two and half years as a member of parliament, she said she realised that “the two main parties (Pasok and New Democracy) think they own the country and that they must have immunity”.
Konstantopoulou, who has published a book titled “The Black Book of Shame', wants to take away the immunity that legislators have enjoyed for years.
“We have declared our position to abolish immunity, it’s in our 2012 programme,” she said, insisting it will be one of the first priorities of a Syriza government.
Of course, the constitution must be revised before this can happen, but, she says, there “is legislation that can be amended to lead to accountability and not immunity”
Abolition of riot police
Greece’s protracted financial crisis has not only brought millions of people to their knees, tugging violently on the country’s social fabric, it has also led to countless demonstrations and marches, with many ending up in clashes with riot police and the use of teargas, amid charges of police brutality.
Critics, Syriza among them, have long accused governments of using the police as a state instrument of power to enforce their will, trampling on the rights of citizens. Human rights groups have also accused the police of brutality.
Pledging to put an end to this, Konstantopoulou said that, under Syriza’s watch, riot police squads will be abolished and the use of chemicals to disperse crowd and rioters will be banned.
“For us what is happening in the country is a distortion: The police is used as a weapon to attack citizens,” she charged. “The role of the police is to stamp out crime and to protect citizens. To guarantee that citizens can live with security”.
“Unfortunately this is not the case and we see scores of officers used to police the civil liberties of citizens and not used to tackle true criminality,” she said, dismissing accusations by New Democracy that Syriza will ‘disarm’ the police.
“The police is not armed in order to shoot 15-year-old boys or citizens, or to threaten to use a weapon against those that want their rights”.
Ban on teargas
“Abolishing the riot police (MAT) is not just Syriza’s position,but of police associations who find the way these units operate embarrassing,” she said, adding that the use of chemicals against people is illegal.
“The use of chemicals is illegal and it constitutes an international crime to use them against citizens,” she said.
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