newspaper APOKALYPSEIS
Hardly has the dust of Gerekou- scandal settled down, another Blond Deputy Minister is likely to line to the queue to hit the road, if the accusations proven true.
Theodora Tzakri, Deputy Minister of Interior, Decentralization & e-Gevernment is being accused to have allegedly ordained 36 cousins, relatives and fellow villagers of hers to work at a State Institution, the Archeological Museum of Pella, the area of her birth.
According to Greek weekly “Apokalypseis” ( Revelations), Deputy Minister Tzakri, allegedly managed to give ‘hiring’ preference to 7- 8 members of her family and village for vacancies like guards, cleaning staff, drivers and so on.
Apparently 300 people had taken part to the public competition for 30 temporary vacancies at the museum. Public Competition (ASEP) is mandatory by Law for recruiting in the Public Sector.
The Tzakri-candidates seemed to have beaten the others in terms of merits and qualifications.
Theodora Tzakri answered the accusations with a letter, where she denies any involvement in the recruitment of her relatives. She speaks of “unjust, irrational and unethical attack” against her and threatens to take legal action against the newspaper. (www.naftemporiki.gr)
Blond Deputy Ministers Have Surely More Fun
Theodora Tzakri is a tall, blond, fast speaking, dynamic woman, a lawyer by profession, who hit the politics road in 2004. She has been often in the press because of her exclusive taste for expensive clothes, jewelry and accessories. Apparently Pella-locals call her the “Fairy Fee”.
Theodora Tzakri is the second female deputy minister in Papandreou’s cabinet to be targeted and pushed indirectly to open the exit-door.
Angela Gerekou, ex-actress and (meanwhile) ex-deputy Minister of Culture & Tourism, was forced to resign beginning of the week after revelations that her husband owed the state € 5,5 million in taxes.
Amid harsh austerity measures and public debt of € 300 billion, the Papandreou-government cannot afford scandals , like “tax evasion” or “nepotism”, to challenge the already boiling public sentiment. According to media, the government is investigating the Tzakri-issue.
In the recent past two other female Ministers had been targeted via rumors (mostly circulating in the internet). No allegation could be nailed though, so the ladies still hold their cabinet posts.
