A majority of Greek Parliament MPs on Wednesday voted in favor of allowing the possible prosecution of former SYRIZA minister Nikos Pappas, and specifically for sole misdemeanor charge of "repeated and unremitting breach of duty".
Pappas, who was re-elected as a deputy for the leftist party in July 2019, faces a judicial investigation over his role in the process to auction-off a handful of private nationwide television licenses in 2016.
Deputies of ruling New Democracy (ND) party and the smaller opposition party KINAL voted in favor, albeit in a secret ballot. Nevertheless, two anonymous deputies failed to toe the party line.
Specifically, 178 MPs voted in favor of Pappas' possible prosecution, out of a total of 277 deputies present in the legislature floor. Another 86 MPs voted against, from SYRIZA, while 12 Communist Party of Greece (KKE) MPs voted "present"; three were not in the chamber.
One vote was as invalid.
Additionally, the 10 MPs of the Greek Solution party and the nine deputies of the MeRA 25 party abstained from the vote after first departing during the debate.
Pappas was prevented from voting, as per Greek Parliament regulations.
The vote in the plenary session followed an earlier recommendation by a majority of the members of a preliminary committee of inquiry, established to probe his role in the case.
