The President of Parliament Nikos Voutsis revealed that the budget for 2016 that was recently passed contains a serious mistake regarding the funding that the political parties receive, during the presentation of a book be former PASOK Minister Giorgos Nikitiadis on Wednesday.
When Mr. Voutsis took the stand he stated that the budget for 2016 provides 5 million euros worth of funding, when it should have been 15 million euros. Mr. Voutsis claimed that the mistake was due to the Alternate Minister of Finances Giorgos Houliarakis being ill on the day that the budget was tabled and told the audience that “nobody picked up on this”.
As expected, the audience members at the book presentation questioned why this has not been rectified, with Mr. Voutsis responded that if a legislative amendment was passed the SYRIZA-led government would likely come under fire. The President of Parliament explained that the mistake would be addressed during the budget review.
Mr. Voutsis also revealed that Greece’s creditors have been pressuring for an abolition of a provision which protects 40% of the state grant from being seized “for two parties that have gone bankrupt, in the sense that they have major loans”.
