Thanou vows she will not resign
Vassiliki Thanou defiantly announced on Wednesday she will not step down as head of Greece’s Competition Commission despite measures put forward by the new conservative government that institute strict rules regarding matters pertaining to conflict of interest.
A bill tabled in Parliament foresees the removal of members and staff of the competition commission, an independent authority, if they have recently served in government bodies.
“My resignation would be tantamount to assenting to the unlawful implementation of a provision. I will therefore not resign,” Thanou told Antenna TV on Wednesday.
“I stand above parties. I have never belonged to any one party,” Thanou said while accusing the conservatives of seeking to tamper with the agency.
Greece’s ex leftist prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, appointed Thanou to a number of influential posts after SYRIZA came to power in 2015. She was made president of the Supreme Court, served briefly as the nation’s first female premier leading a caretaker government during a snap election campaign, before being eventually moved to the prime minister’s office to serve as legal adviser.
