Greek MPs Wealth Declarations Published on Internet (*sigh*) tagged: , , , , , ,

Greek MPs Wealth Declarations Published on Internet (*sigh*)

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Politics

The majority of Greek parliamentarians are wealthy. They have  real estate, bank deposits and investments. The so-called “pothen eshes”-declarations apparently stating the origins of wealth of 572 politicians have been posted online on the Greek parliament website, for all Greeks to admire. It is a tradition showing the politicians transparently unfold their wealth to the public and the Finance Ministry can crosscheck whether the assets coincide with the earnings. This year’s published declarations refer to the taxation year 2009, and were submitted by  current and former members of the Parliament and members of the European Parliament, ministers, finance managers of political parties.

Odd enough, the declarations do not explain [and they don't ask] where the wealth came from but just the status quo.

This year, leader of far-right wing party and coalition government partner George Karatzaferis is proclaimed to be the richest Greek politicians. Together with his wife he has 21 real estates, most of them coming from heritage and donations. Former PM George Papandreou…. oh, you don’t seriously want me to write down the assets of all MPs or just of the political leaders, do you?

As FinMin Venizelos is chasing every Greek who has assets in Swiss bank accounts,  there is the question of where did the money of eleven MPs was spent to. Apparently they withdrew from bank deposits €100,000 to €400,00 and from their declaration it does not show they bought some real estate or something else. They are suspected to have transferred their money abroad. It is most possible that there will be an investigation. However, deputy Parliament speaker supervising the controls and crosschecks refuses to give their names to the public. Journalists are advised to compare with the lists of previous years. The problem is that the pothen-eshes declarations were released before the investigation was concluded. So much about transparency…

Rich and Poor

- One deputy from PASOK has in his bank account just €13.27

- One Nea Dimokratia deputy has won €1,000,000 in the lottery.

- A former PASOK Minister’s declaration was stamped as ‘not sinicere’. The prosecutor is going to take the issue under the magnifying glass. The Minister’s name was involved in some brides scandals.

- The wife of a current PASOK minister has been receiving child benefits.

- The two deputy PMs of the government Venizelos and Pangalos have 31 and 51 real estates respectively.

 For some deputies the sole income they have comes from the MP’s salary. Some others have big fortunes, even through rich marriages.

We lived good and they lived even better ever after…