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What does it matter that the Greek society moans under the heavy taxes and every day it sees that its income falls. For hundreds of former MPs, their widows and…unmarried daughters the Greek state remains the same cash cow which they want to further exploit.  

Only last year, after Greece signed the Memorandum for financial support, the "ancient" law that unmarried daughters of civil servants continue to receive their pension after their death has been changed. But the insurance funds still pay pensions to women who have not worked even one day in their lives and are not married, of course, not to lose money from Dad’s pension.

Having the legal protection of 15 legal firms, the former MPs and their heirs have filed complaints at the Audit Court which is also a judicial authority in Greece, demanding to be paid hundreds of millions of euros. If the court decides in their favour the total amount that will be allocated will reach almost half of the Parliament’s budget.

According to the chairwoman of the Audit Court, about 850 claimants require to be paid backdate pension amounts and in some cases they exceed 250,000 euros. Their request is based on the precedent case-judgment on judicial salaries by which they received salary increases for the previous five years in the form of contributions. In Greece, the salaries of MPs are equal to the salary of the Chairman of the Supreme Court Areopagus.

The claimants are divided into three categories. The first wants the money according to the recalculated salaries of the judges in the period 2003-2007. The second category are those who did not join them and now they want the increases with due interests. The third category of the "disadvantaged" demand their right from 2008 onwards.

An article in Ethnos newspaper states that a former MP who filed a claim for 233,681 euros gained the suit but the state filed an application for appeal and the issue has remained unresolved ever since. The chairwoman of the Audit Court told the members of the parliamentary committee on institutions and transparency that the particular decision was brought back to the court plenary which will decide whether all active members receive these amounts after 2008.

The longtime President of the Greek Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis intervened in the discussion and recalled the decision of lawmakers not to add the increases for the judges to their salaries, stressing how easy a serious response in public opinion could be caused. Anyway, in 2008 the political leaders subject to public pressure were orally against the deputies’ salaries increases. It is well known, however, that oral promises are of no value to a legal precedent and are not really binding on anyone, as demonstrated by the hundreds of claims filed by former MPs.

It seems for now that none of the present MPs have taken steps in court to demand a backdate increase in salary. The newspaper comments that they fear the reaction of their voters.

However, the MPs are fully aware that they could turn to the court at any time, even when they leave the Parliament. The situation will not change if the Parliament itself does not change the resolution it voted in 1974, under which MPs receive salary equal to the salary of the Chairman of the Supreme Court Areopagus.

According to the sources of Ethnos newspaper, if any former MP with over 18 years of service wins his claim filed at the Audit Court, this same MP will be paid 75-80% from the amount set backdate for the Chairman of Areopagus. And this amount is set at over 100,000 euros. A MP with 5 years of service will get around 30,000 euros.