Greek government survives vote over wiretap scandal

ATHENS: Greece´s government on Friday easily survived a no-confidence vote called by the opposition over a long-running wiretap scandal in which top officials were targeted by state intelligence for months.

The censure motion was defeated by 156 votes to 143 in the 300-seat chamber, parliament vice chairman Haralambos Athanassiou said after the official count.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis had welcomed the vote ahead of time as an opportunity to promote his government´s record ahead of elections in spring. But leftist former premier Alexis Tsipras called for the no-confidence vote on Wednesday, calling Mitsotakis the “mastermind and leader” behind a “criminal network” that had wiretapped officials´ phones.

Tsipras said that the head of Greece´s communications watchdog ADAE told him that an audit of national telecom operators last month uncovered that several senior officials had been under surveillance.

He identified Greece´s former energy minister, army chief and former national security advisor as being among the officials. Tsipras said the ADAE´s chairman Christos Rammos had told him on Tuesday that the officials had been under surveillance by state intelligence agency EYP.