UPDATE - Greek opposition seeks no-confidence motion for government regarding surveillance scandal

ADDS MOTION, REMARKS BY PM, SUPPORT FOR MOTION BY OPPOSITION PARTIES, CHANGES DECK

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Greece’s main opposition party announced Wednesday it filed a no-confidence motion against the Nea Dimokratia (ND) government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis concerning the surveillance scandal that has shaped the country’s political scene since last summer.

In the motion delivered to parliament president, the SYRIZA-PS party argued that the country is going through its darkest period since the restoration of democracy in 1974.

"It is now proven that politicians, public figures, top government officials, as well as journalists were monitored, citing reasons of national security, by the National Intelligence Service (EYP) under the supervision of the Prime Minister," it said.

Taking the floor in the parliament to address the motion, SYRIZA's leader Alexis Tsipras said: “Now it is time for society, political parties, and competent authorities to take a clear position, to assume their responsibilities."

“Nobody has the right to turn a blind eye because what is happening does not only concern some reputable constitution expert but concerns citizens’ lives,” he warned.

Arguing that the government is not only incompetent but deeply undemocratic, Tsipras claimed that the massive surveillance campaign was orchestrated by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis who wanted to take total control of the governance.

Tsipras then revealed the names of six prominent figures who were mentioned in the file that was sent to him by Greece’s Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE).

Accordingly, apart from the Chief of General Staff Gen. Konstantinos Floros, Gen. Theodoros Laios, Gen, Charalambos Lalousis, Vice-Admiral Aristides Alexopoulos, Minister of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis, and former National Security Advisor Alexandros Diakopoulos were confirmed to have been under EYP surveillance.

Mitsotakis, who did not attend the parliamentary session, responded to Tsipras from Crete where he was for an election campaign.

"Tsipras today wrote the preface of his defeat himself," he said in reference to the no-confidence motion.

“With Tsipras, I do not choose conflict, I choose comparison. The upcoming elections are among the most critical of the country's history,” he said and urged Greeks not to allow SYRIZA to threaten the progress of the last four years under his tenure.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE), and MeRA25, led by former Finance Minister Yannis Varoufakis, announced support for the motion, according to media reports.