Lessons in political morality

Outrage has been caused by the Finance Minister's luxurious trip to Washington during a time of fiscal crisis, which has also got negative reviews from the foreign press. At the same time that the Greek minister was departing from Washington after the IMF spring session on the government Lear Jet, European Central Bank chairman, Mr. Jean-Claude Trichet was leaving the U.S. using a commerical flight, stating to "THEMA" that this is the way he always travels.

Despite the social outrage generated by the "THEMA"' revelation, concerning the 150.000-euro VIP flight, as well as the negative climate towards Mr. Papakonstantinou, he does not seem to be aware of the major moral and political issue that has arisen.  With extreme nonchalance, the minister's communication team have answered "It does not concern you whether the Minister will take members of his family along on his trips. He could be boarding the government jet from Eleftherios Venizelos and not from Elefsis, but he does not".

The Minister of Finance has also been "exposed" by the conduct of the President of the Republic, Karolos Papoulias, who has long forsaken luxury flights with entrepreneurs and journalists and drastically reduced his travel expenses.

The ministerial trip to Washington has also given rise to questions posed in parliament by the parliamentary representative of LAOS, Mr. Asterios Rodoulis. Mr. Papakonstantinou's coworkers seem to have "taken care" to inform the Greek people through the Clarity Programme that the journey took place via commercial flights, in a written attempt to muddy the truth.