Evangelos Venizelos

The Greek Parliament will decide on Friday whether or not to request the prosecution of 10 prominent politicians named in a bribery scandal involving the Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis, in the final phase of a parliamentary inquiry into the case.

A prosecutor on Thursday shelved legal suits lodged against government officials and prosecutors by former prime minister Antonis Samaras, ex-finance minister Evangelos Venizelos and former health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, now European migration commissioner, over bribery claims involving Swiss drugs firm Novartis.

A corruption prosecutor investigating the Novartis bribery case ordered on Tuesday the opening of ten bank accounts and disclosure of other assets belonging to the prominent politicians named in the case file.

Former deputy prime minister and finance minister Evangelos Venizelos accused the Finance Ministry on Wednesday of creating problems for the next government through the extensive domestic borrowing it has recently resorted to in order to boost the cash buffer for the country's so-called clean exit from the bailout program.

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos filed a fresh request with Greece's Supreme Court to reveal the names of the witnesses claiming that the former minister and another nine political officials received bribes from a Swiss drug firm.

Two former Greek government ministers have filed criminal lawsuits against witnesses who allegedly implicated them and other former officials in a pharmaceuticals scandal.

Former socialist minister and ex PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos on Tuesday resorted to legal action over a prosecutors' report alleging that he and another nine Greek politicians accepted bribes from Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis.

Former deputy premier Evangelos Venizelos told a Greek-French forum in Athens titled "A New Hope for Greece" that the country is heading for a "long-lasting memorandum" after August, meaning a monitoring program without the benefits of cheap borrowing from the European Stability Mechanism.

The coalition on Wednesday blocked a request from New Democracy MPs for Defense Minister Panos Kammenos and Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias to appear before Parliament's Institutions and Transparency Committee to respond to questions about the alleged scandal involving the sale of ammunition to Saudi Arabia.

The first round of voting this coming Sunday to elect a leader for the "new center-left party" - as everyone is calling the coalition that will emerge from the process - is basically the first step in an effort to glue back together all the different pieces that resulted from the fragmentation of the socialist PASOK party.