Subject: The New York Times: Greece Falters Topic: for-papers From: jk@cnj.digex.net The New York Times INTERNATIONAL Thursday, April 13, 1995 -- Athens Journal -- As a Feeble Papandreou Hangs On, Greece Falters [945 words] by Marlise Simons ATHENS -- "We are moving in very, very slow motion," said Eleni Stratigis, an Athens economist. "Some people believe the Prime Minister should step down." The bounce has gone from Andreas Papandreou's step and his fiery voice has thinned to a near whisper. After looming over Greek politics for more than two decades, the once radical Prime Minister of Greece is ailing and withdrawn. A great orator who once thrived on debates, he now rarely visits parliament and meets only occasionally with his Cabinet ministers at his private residence. Suffering from heart problems, the 76 year-old leader is now so frail that friends and critics publicly question his ability to govern. On some days, associates say, Mr. Papandreou is barely in touch with events. As his powers have declined, the governing Socialist Party, which Mr. Papandreou founded, has split into factions that bicker over strategy, and line up for the inevitable succession, while the government has seemed to drift toward paralysis. The situation alarms many Greek businessmen anxious to modernize the country. They want to speed up the on-again, off-again plans to privatize the economy and to overhaul the stagnant bureaucracy. "We have a Government with no Prime Minister and with ministers who cannot act," said Miltiades Evert, the leader of the main opposition party New Democracy. Top officials complain about what they say is a dense protective barrier around the Prime Minister, mainly by a few trusted aides, and by his wife Dimitra, who is also his chief of staff. "That little group around him acts like a substitute government," a longtime Papandreou ally said. Stellios Papathemelis, the Minister of Public Order, ran afoul of this inner circle in the midst of a national crisis and resigned on March 29. According to the minister, he refused pressure to send riot policemen to clear away roadblocks set up by protesting farmers and insisted in discussing such a politically volatile move with the Prime Minister. But the minister did not get past the Prime Minister's aides. "If I could have spoken to Papandreou, all this could have been avoided," Mr. Papathemelis said after his resignation. Mr. Papandreou has designated no deputy t handle Government tasks. Nor has he set the stage for a clear successor with enough stature to follow him as the standard-bearer of the Socialist Party he has headed for two decades. "He should be preparing the transition," said a Government official. "This is the start of the post-Papandreou era, but of course he will not admit to this." Athenians, who normally thrive on politics, say they are tired or the infighting and the impasse. "The mood is getting awful," said a Socialist deputy and long-time friend of the Prime Minister. "People are just waiting." Mr. Papandreou is said to be bewildered by steep drop in the polls and by the growing pressure for him to step down. From his new pink villa, Mr. Papandreou has called the growing carping from his own associates and party members "insulting." Others have rallied to his support. When he was widely criticized for accepting interest-free loans from cabinet members and from business friends in order to build his new luxurious home, Government officials said it was "entirely normal" to borrow from friends. The inertia in Greece's Government means that many crucial decisions are not being made, not least in relation to the country's ties with the 15-nation European Union. Almost $15 billion worth of European subsidies set aside for Greece can only be disbursed once its Government has presented appropriate projects. But many are waiting on the drawing board. "It's tragic because we are in a crucial period and we are wasting valuable time," said Savvas Tsitouridis, a former Greek delegate at the European Union. "This is meant to be the time when we are developing the country and catching up with the rest of Europe." Even the pro-Government newspapers in this country, where the press is intensely partisan, are now regularly saying that the current Government is a bad thing for Greece and that a new leader is needed. Among the potential successors' names cited most often is the popular Vaso Papandreou (no relation to the Prime Minister), who is a former European commissioner for social affairs. She has called for the Prime Minister to hand over power to a collective leadership. Another contender is Theodoros Pangalos, a former Socialist minister, who said several weeks ago that "the Premier cannot fulfill his role and it is my impression that he is no longer interested." Both dissenters were recently called before a party disciplinary committee to be chided for their attacks. Politicians inside and outside the Government, though, note that Mr. Papandreou is likely to want to hold on to power, if at all possible, until the next elections in October 1997. He is known for his tenacity. Mr. Papandreou has survived fights with Washington, with the European Union and with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. At home he has overcome the bad publicity of a scandalous divorce, accusations of illegal wiretapping and a trial for financial improprieties of which he was acquitted. And his voice, on the rare occasions when it is heard these days, still counts. Mr. Papandreou recently appeared on television to reprimand the thousands of protesting farmers whose barricades had disrupted traffic and commerce throughout Greece. Mr. Papandreou pleaded with the protesters to "end their mutiny" because the cost to the economy will be huge if it continues." Within hours, the farmers began to lift the two-week-old barricades.