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The members of the ruling party are trying to demonstrate new political morality after the decision to propose the formation of a pre-trial parliamentary committee for the case of the well-known party functionary Akis Tsochatzopoulos. The proposal is in connection with a passive bribery to the detriment of the Greek state and legalization of funds from illegal activities in the form of acquisition and ownership of property, acquired by illegal means, i.e. black money.

According to the author of the article in Ethnos newspaper, PASOK’s decision to send the case of the former Minister of Defence and even a candidate for chairman of the party to the pre-trial investigation committee has been taken a long time ago, but the criminal investigation held in Greece as well as in Germany has sped up the events.

The party decision was taken on the base of the atmosphere of suspicion and strong resentment on the part of public opinion concerning the impunity of former ministers who could have been involved in scandals.

PASOK's proposal is based also on the fact that the contracts for the construction and renovation of the German submarines to the needs of the Greek Navy were signed during the ministerial terms of Akis Tsochatzopoulos. Under the text of the proposal are the signatures of 112 MPs. It is not signed by the Prime Minister George Papandreou, the President of the Parliament and the members of the Council of Ministers, as is customary. The former party comrades of Akis Tsochatzopoulos doubt that: "in breach of his obligations he could have sought and obtained directly or through third-parties benefits of any kind for himself as a compensation for an act, part of his duties" and that "he eventually has acquired and owns property which he knew at the time of its acquiring that it was the result of illegal actions."

The article in Ethnos notes that the President of the Parliament Filippos Petsalnikos informed the other parliamentary forces, and then immediately announced that the discussion on the proposal of the PASOK deputies to establish a pre-trial committee will be held during the session of the Plenary Assembly on the 28^th of April. The decision will be taken after a secret ballot and according to the parliamentary rules the former minister is entitled to speak on the charges.

At the same time, the investigation of the four submarines Type 214, held by the financial department of the prosecution, is at a critical stage. According to sources, the investigation identified the involvement of other persons, except for the 37, who have been already called to testify for the first stage of the big state delivery. This week, the engineer Yannis Beltsios is expected to appear before the prosecutor. He is one of the closest associates of the former Minister of Defence and is called as a suspect in the case of submarines. The crimes for which he will testify are bribery and violating the law to legalize "black money". The data expected to be sent by the German justice are of particular importance for revealing the truth too. They contain information requested by the prosecution about the bank accounts transactions of persons who are accused in the German part of the case. The prosecution seeks the assistance of the German legal authorities for the period from 2000 to 2007.

The data collected so far show bribing of senior political and government officials. According to the text of the PASOK’s proposal, the bribe money reached the state functionaries through “advisers”, law firms and ad hoc established companies. It is believed that the bribes given amount to about 4.5% of the expenditure (turnover) of the delivery, the total cost of which varies between 72 and 83 million euros.

The expectations are that the former Minister Akis Tsochatzopoulos will take a firm stance and will launch threats to his former "comrades". Until now, the circle around him has not responded, although last week his collaborators defined the possibility of adopting the proposal to form a pre-trial committee as a "misstep, to which some lead the parliamentary group of PASOK, and it is not in their honour." Such a statement made Akis Tsochatzopoulos himself as according to him "this is a strange process, which in this case reveals the deep crisis of the political orientation of PASOK during this period."

He believes that there is a strange unity between the ruling party and New Democracy and manipulation through which to selectively place individuals to target in order to present a convenient "truth" with a clear political focus.

"They knocked on the wrong door both for the essence of the matter and for the "black money". I am ready to actively contribute to the presentation of the whole truth through any parliamentary procedure. Even at the beginning of the investigation of the case of submarines from the German and Greek justice, my position was: Everything in the light, full transparency everywhere in order the people to learn the whole truth," said Akis Tsochatzopoulos a week ago.