Institutional self-restraint

The Greek government’s decision on Tuesday to leave the cabinet chairs empty during a parliamentary debate on the creation of a special committee to investigate possible crimes committed by former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos in connection with the Novartis inquiry bears a significant symbolic weight.

The parliamentary majority is showing its self-restraint, drawing a clear line with the practices followed by the previous administration – those practices that will be judged by the process set in motion Tuesday. The aim of the committee is not only to investigate the issue at hand. It is also to demonstrate by its work that it is restoring the institutional culture which had been lacking.