Greek politicians have voted for a parliamentary investigation into the tapping by the country’s secret service of an opposition party leader’s phone.
The scandal has plunged Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right government into a political storm. Mr Mitsotakis has denied any prior knowledge of the surveillance, which he said was wrong, and pledged to overhaul the EYP, Greece’s primary intelligence agency.
On Monday, 142 MPs voted for the parliamentary investigation, easily exceeding the 120-vote threshold needed.
The commission — where government MPs will have a majority — will have at least a month to carry out the probe.
The committee will also examine allegations that phones belonging to officials in Greece’s communist party were tapped in 2016, under a previous left-wing government.
The current scandal broke after revelations that Nikos Androulakis, a European Parliament member and head of Greece’s third-largest political party, was put under surveillance for three months last year when he was running for his PASOK party’s leadership. A financial journalist was also under surveillance.
Mr Mitsotakis, who faces re-election next year, has insisted he was unaware of what he has called the legal wiretapping of Mr Androulakis but said he would not have approved the move had he known about it.
He has not revealed the reasons for Mr Androulakis being under surveillance, citing national security concerns.
The head of the EYP and a close aide to Mr Mitsotakis have resigned over the scandal.
