An obscure article buried in 7,500 pages of an omnibus draft law passed by a slim majority in Parliament last weekend that allows ministers, deputies and ministry general secretaries to legally participate in off-shore companies generated the latest political flare-up in the country over the weekend.
According to the legislative article, which was featured in a report by the Sunday weekly “Proto Thema”, lawmakers will retain the right to own or manage off-shore companies under the condition that the entities' headquarters is among countries deemed as “cooperating” on taxation issues, even countries characterized by Greece’s finance ministry as “tax havens.”
Article 178 of the ratified bill – passed by 152 MPs out of 300 in Parliament – modifies a 2003 law, which essentially outlawed any participation in off-shore companies by lawmakers and top government and ministry officials. The 2003 law, in fact, stipulated the loss of office in cases where violations were proven.
A reaction by main opposition New Democracy charged that “those who pilfered the vote of the Greek people in the name of integrity and transparency, now legislate to give Parliament deputies the right to own off-shore (companies)."
Other opposition parties roundly criticized the article as well, which took roughly a week to emerge in the public limelight.
Last week's voluminous bill included the second part of a 5.4-billion-euro austerity package to meet memorandum-mandated fiscal targets through 2018. Increases in indirect taxes, further privatizations and an automatic spending cut mechanism were the most prominent features of the bill.
