Evangelos Venizelos

Greece's top corruption prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki on Thursday shelved a legal suit lodged against central bank governor Yannis Stournaras over bribery claims involving Swiss drugmaker Novartis.

Just two days before he will be deposed regarding his charges of a botched handling of the Novartis kickbacks case by his colleagues and of governmental meddling in the case, Deputy Supreme Court Prosecutor Ioannis Angelis has in a 10-page report requested that lawsuits filed by former PM Antonis Samaras, former Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos, and European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos (

In a new twist in the ongoing probe into the Novartis case, Deputy Supreme Court Prosecutor Ioannis Angelis submitted a report to the court's prosecutor's office calling for the reopening of three criminal lawsuits filed by three prominent politicians who were implicated in the alleged bribery investigation.

Main opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has announced that former caretaker prime minister and ex-Council of State president Panagiotis Pikrammenos will head New Democracy's statewide ticket.

The E-Kyklos think tank is holding its third annual conference titled "Greece After III: The Restoration of the Middle Class" through Thursday, starting at 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday with a brief introductory speech by former deputy prime minister and finance minister Evangelos Venizelos.

Movement for Change leader Fofi Gennimata has ruled out the prospect of her centre-left party joining a coalition government with the top party in the 7 July general election, which according to all polls will be New Democracy by a wide margin.

"We are seeking a strong mandate in order to overturn the political scene," Gennimata said.

Evangelos Venizelos' farewell speech in Parliament earlier this week, which took place during a debate on a slew of new amendments to the country's criminal code and code of criminal procedure, was addressed to a half-empty auditorium.

The parliamentary group and political secretariat of center-left Movement for Change (KINAL) met on Tuesday in a bid to restore a sense of calm following the withdrawal of Socialist heavyweight Evangelos Venizelos and subsequent departures of two election candidates and a party cadre. 

Socialist veteran Evangelos Venizelos accused Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Fofi Gennimata of committing political suicide by playing into the hands of New Democracy and denied rumors that he was eyeing some form of cooperation with the center-right opposition.

Center-left Movement for Change (KINAL), which is polling in third place ahead of national elections in July, was in a state of upheaval on Sunday after two candidates and a party cadre quit in protest at the withdrawal of socialist heavyweight Evangelos Venizelos.