Pangalos stands by we-all-ate-together statement

Socialist veteran Theodoros Pangalos stood by his controversial ?we-all-ate-together? statement on Wednesday, alleging rampant tax-evasion and corruption in the debt-wracked country.

?Every citizen is responsible in a democracy,? Greece’s outgoing deputy prime minister, who has said will not run in the coming elections, said in an interview with Skai on Wednesday. ?[My remarks] were a reference to political favors, tax dodging and all the stuff that is gradually being revealed now,? he said.

The outspoken 74-year-old politician sparked controversy in 2010, a few months after Greece’s first bailout package, after he claimed on TV that everyone, not just politicians, bore the responsibility for the squandering of public money. ?We all ate together,? Pangalos said at the time.

First elected as a PASOK MP in 1981, Pangalos on Wednesday explained his decision not to be a candidate in the May 6 parliamentary elections saying he was too old to serve another tenure. ?In four years I will be 78. I need to retire at some point,? he said.