Did the government close unexpectedly the Parliament to avoid a possible liability investigation on the part of current coalition government Vice-President and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos in the submarine scandal?

The issue that was created when the file on the Hellenic Shipyards at Scaramanga and the faulty submarines was sent to Parliament by appeals court prosecutors following the submission made by Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) deputy Zoe Konstantopoulou is developing into a political thriller.
The scandalous case of the submarines that were commissioned fourteen years ago by the convicted for “black” money laundering, former Minister of Defence Akis Tsohatzopoulos remains a gaping wound in the political life of the country.
A few days ago, the incumbent Defense Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos launched a seven-billion euro compensation claim against ThyssenKrupp Marine Systems and Abu Dhabi Mar, i.e. the defence firm and shipyard now responsible for the order. It should be noted that this amount is three times the price paid by the taxpayers for the purchase of submarines.

The crucial “detail” is that up until today, only one of the four submarines purchased has been delivered to Greece…

The scandal resurfaced because of a “strange” coincidence: the file was submitted to the Parliament on the same day that the government moved to close the sessions. As far as the court documents are concerned the prosecutors noted that from the preliminary investigation which was conducted evidence emerged regarding the potential criminal responsibility of ministers – members of the government and specifically Mr. Venizelos and Mr. Papaconstantinou.

The court documents prompted an angry response from PASOK. The party released a statement maintaining that the prosecutor’s office didn’t have the competency to conduct the any sort of evaluation as the evidence they relied on came from the record of the meeting of the relevant committee of parliament.

At the same time, the main opposition party is reportedly determined to keep the issue in the news as it believes that the continuous targeting of Mr Venizelos can only be beneficial. However it is not clear whether it will remain only at the level of communication – attempting thereby to divert attention from the tumultuous party meetings – or whether it will proceed with substantial parliamentary moves.