Parliament speaker closes debt committee launched by predecessor
Parliament Speaker Nikos Votsis issued a decision on Friday that brings to a close proceedings at the so-called Debt Truth Committee set up by his predecessor, Zoe Constantopoulou, to probe whether Greece should repay what it owes.
The panel started its work on May 18 and its report concluded that a large part of Greece’s public debt is “odious” and should not be paid.
Constantopoulou described as “shameful” Voutsis’s decision to shut down the committee. She argued that the decision compounded the government’s reluctance to introduce the panel’s findings into Greece’s negotiations with its lenders and is a sign that the coalition is following the institutions’ instructions.
“These are the actions of someone who does not have another choice or of those who have surrendered to a practice that is unconstitutional, undemocratic and against the interests of the people, but most of all illegal,” she said. “Unfortunately, in this case it is the latter.”
