Government general secretary
& prime minister’s close aide Takis Baltakos was secretly
filmed describing to Golden Dawn
spokesman Ilias Kasidiaris the politics behind the clampdown on the
party following the murder of Pavlos Fyssas. The transcripts release, forced Baltakos to resign and triggered drama in the corridors of the parliament as his son stormed inside the Golden Dawners’ office and attacked 3 lawmakers who allegedly failed to respond swiftly because -based on looks- they considered he was "one of them".
The video subtitled by @kalergisK shows a friendly chat between
the two men and Baltakos revealing that the allegations lacked sufficient
evidence whilst the crackdown was an effort to tackle the switch of New Democracy voters
to Golden Dawn. Frankly this is not news, but an old hot topic of analysis across alternative media sources back in September. However when it's allegedly admitted by a government official who is secretly recorded by a lawmaker, then the story enters a new chapter and raises a few questions:
- The video material appears to be legit but it's edited and 3 bits appear to be deleted (1:42' - 2:01' -2:28'). Was there any juicy info missed? If yes how would that affect the story?
- If the video was recorded months ago why did Golden Dawn choose now to release it?
- Since Golden Dawn engages with such practices, there is room for assumptions about other video or audio materials available. In case thery actually are, how could these shape further developments ahead of elections and party members' trial? Should other public figures start worrying? Would this mark the beginning of a bluffing game or blackmailing and secret negotiations?
- What lies ahead for a governemnt and above all for the people it is supposed to serve amid allegations of political interference at justice?
- The boundary between the far-right and the center right has become porous. For example the views and background of New Democracy's Kranidiotis, Voridis, Georgiadis or Plevris -to name a few- give strong evidence although they have made numerous efforts to play it down. Samaras also expelled Sotiris Hatzigakis for raising the issue back in 2011. Baltakos would bear even greater responsibility as the government's general secretary. Is this video a hint of collusion between people of New Democracy and Golden Dawn?
Video transcript in English can be found here