ATHENS: Greek lawmakers decided on Tuesday to investigate suspect land swaps between the state and a wealthy monastery in a scandal which rocked Greece and helped bring down the previous conservative government.
The ruling socialists have vowed to clean up public life and dealing with past scandals will be key to imposing tough austerity measures to fight a financial crisis.
The government, which has a comfortable majority in the 300-member Parliament, is under pressure by the EU and markets to cut its double-digit deficit and reduce its debt.
Opinion polls show people are willing to support harsh measures if these are just and applied fairly, if those involved in scandals are brought to justice.
Two conservative cabinet ministers resigned last year after investigation showed the powerful Vatopedi monastery got prime, state-owned real estate in exchange for low-value land.
The swaps were intended to settle the 1,000-year old monastery’s land claims in northern Greece.
Although no money changed hands, local media had said that the state lost 100 million euros ($140.9 million) worth of land in the property swap.
The Vatopedi monastery, one of the largest in northern Greece’s all-male monastic community of Mount Athos, has denied any wrongdoing.
