Tsipras files new complaint over Novartis committee
Opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras has sent a new letter of complaint to Parliamentary spokesman Konstantinos Tasoulas over the special committee investigating the handling of the Novartis bribery probe, sources said on Monday.
In the letter, the former leftists premier reportedly called on Tasoulas to “act according to his institutional role” and ensure Parliament's “smooth operation.”
The complaint is seen as an expression of Tsipras' intention not to replace SYRIZA MPs Dimitris Tzanakopoulos and Pavlos Polakis, who were ejected from the panel on the grounds that they are witnesses in the probe into allegations of political interference from the former leftist administration in the judicial inquiry of allegations that the Swiss pharmaceutical firm had bribed high-ranking former politicians.
Sources, however, added that it is unlikely that Tsipras is planning to withdraw SYRIZA entirely from the special committee as he would not want his party to appear as having sabotaged the proceedings.
