PM, Alavanos richest MPs
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and Synaspismos Left Coalition leader Alekos Alavanos were the wealthiest MPs in Greece in 2004, according to an annual statement of their personal assets and income made public yesterday. Karamanlis declared an income of 108,104 euros that year and his assets included five apartments in Athens and Thessaloniki. Alavanos’s 2004 earnings reached 140,938 euros while his property portfolio included a share in a hotel on the island of Tinos and land in Hania, Crete. The poorest MP, according to the data, was Aleka Papariga, the Communist Party leader. MPs are obliged to declare their personal assets and income every year to a parliamentary committee. The information is then made public to promote transparency of MPs earnings. The 2004 figures, which covered an election year, also showed that a number of MPs sold personal assets such as cars in order to fund pre-election campaigns.
