New Democracy press spokesperson Alexandra Sdoukou said no one in Greece is above the law as she addressed ongoing investigations into Pizza Fan and basketball.
Speaking on the Greek television channel Action 24, Sdoukou said the government is putting the principle of equality before the law into practice regardless of a person's economic or social power. She stated that fighting illegality and corruption requires strong institutions, effective audit authorities and an independent judiciary.
Commenting on high-profile cases dominating the news in Greece, including a scandal in basketball and an investigation involving the restaurant chain Pizza Fan, Sdoukou said society had held an entrenched belief for many years that the law is strict on the weak and lenient toward the powerful. She warned that this belief leads to a crisis of public trust in state institutions and the government itself.
New Democracy is Greece's ruling centre-right political party, while Action 24 is an Athens-based television network covering national news and politics. Sdoukou serves as the party's chief spokesperson in the media.
Crackdown on tax evasion and money laundering
Sdoukou said Greece had long suffered from a mentality that certain individuals could stand above the law, exploit legal loopholes and violate national statutes. She pointed to people who set up illicit rings, avoid paying taxes, launder money and engage in the types of misconduct now coming to light as part of a wider culture that must be confronted.
According to the spokesperson, the political will now exists to change that environment. She said the state has the necessary mechanisms, institutional tools and supervisory authorities to carry out their work without interference, allowing investigators to uncover not only minor offenders but also major figures, whom she referred to as both small and big fish.
Even so, Sdoukou noted that such a culture cannot be transformed overnight because lawlessness and tolerance of rule-breaking have been deeply rooted in Greek society. Moving from tolerance of illegality to accountability and compliance with the rules, she said, requires established procedures and time.
Cultural shift on everyday lawlessness in Greece
While expressing a wish that Greece had no corruption at all, Sdoukou said she did not believe any country in the world is completely free of corruption. However, she argued that attitudes are changing across many areas of everyday life in Greece.
As examples of the old mentality, she cited drivers who assumed they could ignore a traffic ticket because they would find someone to cancel the fine, as well as citizens who relied on personal connections to settle matters at the tax office or municipal urban planning departments. She said many long-standing festering problems in public life are now being broken open.
Sdoukou said New Democracy's guiding principle since the first day it took office has been that nobody sits above the law. She described law and order and an end to impunity as the core doctrine the party has systematically followed in government, adding that both the powerful and the powerless must face the consequences of breaking the law.
Ministry of Labour protection for Pizza Fan workers
Asked specifically about the Pizza Fan case and its workforce, Sdoukou expressed sympathy for the employees, saying they were not to blame and should not have to wake up one morning to a sudden shock and job insecurity. Pizza Fan is one of Greece's largest pizza delivery chains, operating stores across the country.
Sdoukou said the Ministry of Labour is closely monitoring the situation and expressed confidence that an interim solution would be found until the complex legal matter is resolved. She noted that no employment contracts have been terminated at this stage, meaning the workers are rightly demanding and entitled to both their wages and their job security. She added that the Ministry of Labour is determined to find a way to protect the staff.
Dispute with Syriza and PASOK over basketball scandal
Turning to the scandal in Greek basketball, Sdoukou rejected criticism from political opponents, accusing them of using slander and mudslinging as an opposition tactic and making unsubstantiated allegations against anyone they choose. She said the country no longer operates as it did under previous administrations, stating that Greece is not in the era of Syriza, the left-wing party that governed prior to New Democracy.
She said Greek institutions now operate independently to investigate whatever is necessary, and she stressed that the government will not allow people's courts to be created through political slander.
Sdoukou also called the stance of the spokesperson for PASOK, the centre-left Panhellenic Socialist Movement, hypocritical. She said PASOK was trying to attribute blame to the government over current investigations even though those cases are being uncovered under the present administration. She accused PASOK of following a standard tactic of jumping to premature conclusions, comparing its current rhetoric to past instances when judicial case files reached the Greek Parliament and the opposition spoke of a government of defendants before those proceedings concluded.
