About 100 former parliament members have been vindicated after a court ruled that, according to a 2016 law, their salaries should be equal to those of the Supreme Court president, thereby they can receive the difference in their pensions retroactively from 2009 onward.
It is estimated that the amount awarded to the former MPs, or their families if they have passed, is about 15 million euros. If all 160 of them that have appealed are vindicated, the total can go up to 50 million euros.
At a time when Greek people suffer the burden of heavy taxation, wage cuts and unemployment, it is a provocation that former MPs who receive fat pensions to ask for more compensation.
New Democracy chief Kyriakos Mitsotakis rushed to announce that any former party MP who demands the retroactive compensation will be written off the party list.
SYRIZA tried to exploit the situation by accusing New Democracy for a 2008 law that gave the right to former MPs to demand such compensation. Maximos Mansion said that only ND and PASOK former MPs appealed to be paid for the difference in their pensions retroactively, and Mitsotakis’ appeal to his party members is hypocritical.
Regardless of the legitimacy of the claims, the appeal by 160 former MPs shows once again that most Greeks who are involved in politics do so in order to acquire personal wealth and earn privileges.
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