MPs at odds over pace of inquiry into Lagarde list
The New Democracy MP presiding over the inquiry into ex-Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou’s handling of the Lagarde list of Greeks with deposits at an HSBC branch in Geneva wrote to Parliament Speaker Evangelos Meimarakis on Friday to ask him to lift regulations that prevent the committee’s sessions from being televised.
Christos Markoyiannakis claimed in his letter that some of the 13 lawmakers on the panel were displaying behavior “clearly intent on causing delays.”
The conservative deputy’s intervention came after he clashed with SYRIZA’s Zoe Constantopoulou and Independent Greeks MP Vassilis Kapernaros, who broke his finger after banging a desk in frustration on Thursday. Markoyiannakis said he felt both lawmakers were asking witnesses an excessive amount of questions without helping the investigation progress.
The former head of Papaconstantinou’s office, Chrysa Hatzi, gave evidence for several hours, continuing until about 3 a.m. on Friday as she was quizzed about the list. She told MPs that the CD containing the date arrived at the ministry early in October 2010. She admitted that the normal process of logging the arrival of an official file was not followed. Hatzi added that she did not know which of her colleagues took the CD for safekeeping. As a result, she was asked to name all 28 employees serving in Papaconstantinou’s office so they can be questioned.
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