Through measures such as liberalising closed professions and amending laws on prosecuting ministers, with the limits set by the Constitution, the government had proved its dedication to issues of social justice and transparency in politics, government spokesman Yiorgos Petalotis said on Thursday.
According to Petalotis, liberalising closed professions was a matter of social justice, professional freedom and equal treatment for all citizens since thousands of young people were now given a choice and access to professions that had been closed to them until now.
This would in turn boost competitiveness and result in lower prices and better services to the general public, while assisting in the country's economic growth, he said.
The spokesman particularly emphasised the importance of amendments to laws on the prosecution of ministers, saying it was a clear indication that the government was not settling but revising the operation of the current political system and the distortions that this generated.
Quoting the prime minister's statements that no law, on its own, could solve problems unless it was backed by the required political will to explore issues related to the law, Petalotis underlined that the government was proving that it had the will that was needed and prepared to exhaust all margins, even within the narrow framework of the existing Constitution, to meet its pledges concerning establishing transparency.
He contrasted this stance with that of the previous New Democracy government, which had manipulated the powers given to it under the Constitution in order to close Parliament early and ensure that certain cases would be statute barred.
The spokesman was replying to questions regarding ongoing Parliamentary probes of possible scandals, such as the Vatopedi Monastery land swaps inquiry or the Siemens kickbacks case.
source: ana
