Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras rejected an opposition request for a parliamentary committee to investigate a high-profile drug trafficking case.
Tsipras offered once more political support to his ally and Defense minister Panos Kammenos who has been accused by the opposition of meddling into the case through numerous phone calls with convict Makis Yiannousakis.
Yiannousakis is serving a life sentence for his involvement in a huge shipment of heroin with the ‘Noor 1’ vessel in 2014.
The Prime Minister dismissed allegations of improper behavior by his Defense minister saying that it was only a case of a convict calling Kammenos who in return referred him to Justice.
Kammenos is president of the right-wing Independent Greeks party, junior partner in Greece’s coalition government. The party’s nine MPs along with Syriza’s make for a slim majority in the 300-member Greek Parliament.
Tsipras launched a full scale attack against the opposition, speaking of, what he called “real scandals” in the health sector committed by previous administrations.
Criticizing the absence of the leader of main opposition New Democracy (ND) Kyriakos Mitsotakis from the parliamentary debate, Tsipras said that he does want to discuss cases of real corruption.
New Democracy leader’s request or a parliamentary committee to investigate the ongoing drug trafficking case is an effort to divert public opinion from the real scandals, he added.
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