The prosecution is patiently and cautiously waiting the findings of the auditing firms who are investigating the 114 million euro deficit in PASOK’s finances. As soon as the audit is complete, the prosecutors will intervene to determine how the government grants and loans were managed.
In the meantime, details coming to light about the management during the 2004-2010 period paint a very bleak picture. A perfect example is a bag full of unused airplane tickets intended for voters that was found thrown away in a corner. Rumors suggest that about 5 million euros worth of expenses have no documentation.
In their recent meeting current President Evangelos Venizelos and former PM Giorgos Papandreou exchanged some harsh words. Mr. Venizelos is though to have said that “I don’t care about the management, but I want the documentation otherwise we will have a problem”. He also offered Mr. Papandreou a file with the relevant balance sheets, asking him to inspect, however Mr. Papandreou.
The same sources have suggested that when former PM Kostas Simitis left the party helm, PASOK had about 12 million euros in loans. During Papandreou’s tenure and after January 2004, PASOK had accumulated a debt of about 120 million in loans. This dramatic increase could be due in part to the financial crisis.
PASOK’s leadership claims that this is not so much a criminal matter, as much as it is a huge moral and political one, since it relates to the party survival. They also insist that the other political parties must also be audited, opening a potentially huge can of worms.
