As Alexis Tsipras<\/b> continues his rebranding and some expect him to be the so-called… messiah to take on Kyriakos Mitsotakis<\/b> (despite the fact that he has lost… everywhere), people who identified with his period of governance are coming back, showing their bitterness. <\/p>\n
The reason is Prokopis Pavlopoulos and Vassiliki Thanou, who took the opportunity to take a stand on the functioning and role of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, even though its course is – at best – controversial. Specifically, speaking at the 11th Delphi Economic Forum, the former President of the Republic, avoiding – as he said – to comment on “the existing scandal of OPEKEPE”, was quick to stress that “the European Public Prosecutor’s Office is doing its job and admittedly doing it well”, drawing attention to the European institutions. <\/p>\n
In a line of Covesi, he particularly stood on the issue of the renewal of the mandate of the Greek Deputy Prosecutors, underlining that, although not binding, the positive recommendation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Supreme Judicial Council will have to take all the parameters seriously and in case it decides not to renew their mandate “should, in my estimation, for reasons of ethics and respect, not at a legal level, but at the level of the principles of European legal culture, of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, explain what the reasons are for not doing so<\/b>“. <\/p>\n
In the same vein, Vasiliki Thanou, in an article analyzed the selection and renewal process of the Greek Deputy Prosecutors, recalling that the final decision also belongs to the Supreme Judicial Council. However, she raised a crucial – in her view – question: what would a possible rejection of the renewal mean, especially when it is the same persons who had previously been deemed suitable. <\/p>\n
Her reference to “impermissible interference” and political pressure<\/b>, at a time when investigations<\/b> into cases alleged to have harassed political figures are ongoing,<\/b> rather showed that memory in this country works selectively. <\/p>\n
This is because if you look at her CV you will find that she identified herself with certain policy choices made by the then Tsipras government, which are probably not in line with the rule of law. <\/p>\n
The assumption of duties as an unpaid legal adviser in the office of then Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, immediately after her retirement, caused a reaction to the relationship between the judiciary and the executive. This was followed by her appointment to the Competition Commission, at a time when the balance was already under the microscope of the opposition and public opinion.<\/b> These choices were interpreted by many as indicative of a more “flexible” view of the boundaries between institutional roles. <\/p>\n
In the background of that period, moreover, the discussion about “Rasputin” (Dimitris Papaggelopoulos) – a figurehead for alleged interference in the judiciary – also dominated. <\/p>\n
At the same time, Prokopis Pavlopoulos found himself in the highest state office at a time when the country was severely tested. <\/b><\/p>\n
In the summer of 2015, he signed the call for a referendum proposed by Alexis Tsipras’ government at a time when the Greek economy was on the verge of suffocation and the possibility of leaving the eurozone was back on the table. <\/p>\n
This option, although formally included in the constitutional framework, was the subject of intense political criticism, since it had been preceded by talk of tearing up the memorandum with a law and an article! For many, it was a moment when the role of the President of the Republic was limited to ratifying government choices, with no apparent inclination to stop an extremely risky political move.In this light, the current interventions of the two former officials bear the imprint of a period when the same principles were severely tested. <\/b><\/p>\n
In short, those who today call for respect for procedures are the same people who were at the heart of an era when these procedures were – on occasion – interpreted in a particularly “creative” way, as former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis argued. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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