Parliament president Zoe Konstantopoulou recommended on Thursday that two ongoing corruption cases sent to Parliament be brought up the pending cases. The cases that are being made a priority are one relating to the Siemens scandal and one to the so-called ‘Lagarde list’.

In making her recommendation, Konstantopoulou cited a report by the General Secretariat for Transparency issued under the previous government, according to which approximately 12 billion euros were lost annually as a result of corruption. The report also noted that the country would not have become bankrupt if effective action to fight corruption had been taken.

Konstantopoulou said that Parliament had to give priority to these “living scandals that stain public life in the country.” She said the greater part of the material in the Siemens case had not been used in court, while the overwhelming majority of the evidence from the preliminary investigation concerning the Lagarde list had been “buried”. She said that the two cases in question had been “artfully kept quiet”.

Konstantopoulou’s proposal was approved by representatives of all parties in a special standing committee on Institutions and Transparency.