Greek government freezes controversial transfers
The Greek government said Thursday it would freeze further transfers of public sector staff to Parliament after the conservative opposition accused the incumbent leftists of creating plum jobs for scores of political cronies ahead of snap elections next month.
According to a statement from the prime minister’s office, Alexis Tsipras contacted House Speaker Nikos Voutsis to ask him to suspend 32 of 64 scheduled transfers.
The government defended the legality and transparency of the procedure, adding that it had decided to backpedal on the decision after New Democracy “exploited” the case in a bid to score political points.
“It would be utterly unfair if the impression were given that meritocracy does not govern matters related to Parliament's operation, as a result of one or two cases where there may be family connection of some degree,” Voutsis said.
