Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-03-22

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Karamanlis: 'No let up in battle with corruption'

[02] Papandreou sharply attacks gov't in Parliament

[03] Papariga criticises all sides in Parliament debate

[04] Alavanos highlights pension funds issue, education

[01] Karamanlis: 'No let up in battle with corruption'

Karamanlis' statements came during his address at an off-the-agenda debate on ruling New Democracy government's economic policy, initiated by main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou, who later reiterated his call for early general elections.

"The government cannot be harmed in this way. It is the citizens that are harmed, and the citizens are much more mature than some of the people here," Karamanlis said.

The premier acknowledged the right of everyone to exercise criticism, but noted, however, that no one has the right "to attempt a social division" and to "transpose his party's problems and his political weakness onto the backs of society and the country".

"The era of irresponsible populism is irrevocably gone," he stressed, adding that the active and mature citizens "demand a responsible stance from all of us".

Referring to the state-run Civil Servants' Supplementary Pension Fund (TEADY) furor concerning a suspect bond purchase, Karamanlis stressed that "deductions are not made in any instance ... our only commitment is the pact we have made with the citizens".

Karamanlis said that, contrary to the inertia of the past, the regulatory framework this time "worked" and that the government itself and authorities "are confronting, revealing and referring (to justice) anything that creates suspicions of harm to the public interest".

He also recalled the recent governmental decisions for a modern institutional framework in the management of the social insurance/pension funds' assets, for limiting the management of the social insurance organisations' liquid assets, and for an in-deputy audit into the funds' investments "which will not stop anywhere", and for the requirement, henceforth, of approval by the funds' administrative boards, the Bank of Greece and the Capital Market Commission.

The government was also actively proving its stated volition for transparency everywhere, Karamanlis said, adding that "Greece will not return to the past".

He said that those who believed they could poison public life in order to cover up their own political weakness, erase their past and conceal their lack of positions and proposals were "deluding themselves".

"The clash with corruption is incessant and head-on," Karamanlis stressed.

The prime minister also compared the achievements of his government in its three years in power with those of the preceding years (under the PASOK governments), thus responding to those "who purposely reverse the reality and confirm that their target is distortion and negativism, danger-mongering and polarisation".

"We dare the comparison in all the sectors, on all the issues," he said.

Acknowledging that all problems have not been solved, Karamanlis said "the initial results prove that we are (moving) in the right direction" and guarantee "a new, better prospect".

Turning to the changes in the education system, Karamanlis criticised those who "became lost in the internal-party confusion and failed to formulate a position", but also to those who "misunderstood their role, 'prohibiting' every change". However, as a responsible government, ND had the duty to take decisions. "And in a democracy the majority decides. Parliament decided, and Parliament's decision is the law of the state; a law that responds to the needs of the new era and the demands of society".

On the social resources and confronting poverty, Karamanlis said that more effective targeting and a structured politically and socially responsible plan were necessary. He said that, in that direction, the government intended to establish a minimum national pension, while it was also setting up a "Fund to Combat Poverty" that would be funded by the state budget. Social expenditure would be gradually increased by 2 billion euros, meaning 1 percentage point of GDP, over the next five years, he said, adding that the goal of the targeted interventions was to financially reinforce those under the poverty level.

"And this is not an announcement. It is a plan that we have been working on for some time. A plan of political and social responsibility," the premier concluded.

Caption: PM Karamanlis in Parliament on Thursday, March 22, 2007. ANA-MPA / M. Marogianni.

[02] Papandreou sharply attacks gov't in Parliament

Main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou launched a scathing attack on the government during a debate in Parliament on Thursday convened to focus on the economic policy, charging that " corruption, lack of transparency and fraud revealed these days are not at all incidental ... they are related to New Democracy's perceptions and the officials it imposed on the state."

He said the present government was "the worst the country has ever had, even worse than that of Constantine Mitsotakis in 1990-93, with a weak prime minister who is incapable of dismissing the employment minister (Savvas Tsitouridis) and other ministers".

Papandreou said the only solution was an immediate recourse to the ballot box. In actuality, he said "one phrase by the prime minister, that he is submitting his government's resignation and that we are going to elections, would suffice."

"This is what the Greek people were waiting to here," he added.

On the issue of the management of the state-run funds' reserves, Papandreou said "an entire mechanism was set up by the reserves so that some individuals - "parasitic party middle-men" -- could get commissions", adding that ruling ND bore immense responsibility in the affair because high-ranking party officials were sitting in all those seats.

"This is not incidental. It has to do with a perception that you are systematically cultivating -- that the state belongs to you. But the state doesn't belong," Papandreou said, adding that "your scandal with the bonds constitutes a rewarding of fraud".

"You came (to power) to temporarily manage the assets of the Greek citizens with transparency and efficiency. You failed miserably, and that is why the people will soon send you to the opposition; and no more 'hide-and-seek' regarding the justice system. The prime minister tolerates, conceals and covers up -- naturally, everything that he can cover up," Papandreou said.

The PASOK leader said "the crime is at the expense of the pensioner, and you are accountable, Mr. Karamanlis. We expect you to find and return the money to the fund -- and this before the elections -- before you leave the government".

Papandreou also personally pledged not to succumb, as prime minister, to any special interests.

He further called on the prime minister to reveal in Parliament what he promised European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia in return for the Greek economy's exit from the excessive deficit procedure.

"Tell us today, here, in this hall, what you are concealing from the citizens: The commitments you undertook on the social insurance sector following the elections, the increase in the retirement ages and the decrease in pensions as a proportion of salaries, commitments for extended austerity," Papandreou said.

[03] Papariga criticises all sides in Parliament debate

According to Papariga, they entailed an "unprecedented attack on issues such as social insurance, health, education and labour".

"I was not surprised by the triumphant tone and the arrogance of the prime minister in speaking of the government's work. It's true that the [economic] indicators in the third year are rising, but they concern plutocracy and not the many," Papariga said.

She also declared herself equally unsurprised by the stance of main opposition PASOK:

"It's as if the party was born in March 2004. Whatever party is in government is the same class that rules and this shows from the course of the indicators, which prove that the class burden increases, whichever of the two parties is in power," she said.

The KKE leader went on to predict that there would be a "poisonous political climate" until the next elections, in which ruling New Democracy and PASOK would trade accusations and engage in sterile conflict.

Referring to recent revelations suggesting mismanagement of social insurance fund reserves and the issue of a "hidden" bond by the government, Papariga spoke of a scandal and said that the measures announced by the government in response appeared to be leading to a cover-up.

"The Mitsotakis government [of 1990-1993] gave the green light with the legal framework it put in place, which PASOK did not change but kept. There are rodents, there is no doubt; political figures, administrators who benefit because gambling is legal and presupposes competitors and bribes," the KKE leader underlined.

Summing up, Papariga stressed that no solutions could arise with the current balance of power in Parliament, only discussions and arguments, and that the hold of the bi-polar, two-party system had to be weakened.

[04] Alavanos highlights pension funds issue, education

He called on main opposition PASOK to demand the creation of a Parliamentary investigative committee to look into the social insurance fund issue while also extending its brief to the estimated four billion euros lost through tax evasion in order to determine what the true situation is.

Regarding the affair involving the Civil Servants Auxiliary Pension Fund (TEADY) and its suspect bond purchase through the Acropolis brokerage, SYN's leader said this was a "major scandal that reflects the image of the society in which we live," and also spoke of "laws for plundering the reserves of the funds and the workers".

He also charged that social insurance funds were being forced to own stock in the Bank of Greece on "gambling terms".

On this point, Alavanos quoted a study conducted by the General Confederation of Employees of Greece (GSEE), Greece's largest umbrella trade union organisation, according to social insurance funds had lost 70 billion euros since 1950.

"The issue is not just personal or technical but political. Why should there be a party-political view of social insurance funds, whose managements are even changed when there is a change of minister," Alavanos said.

SYN's leader did not spare criticism for Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis, saying that he was chiefly responsible for issuing the shady special bonds that were bought up by TEADY and that he had hidden these bonds from Parliament and public opinion.

"This method is a mire and the government is responsible for opening sewers that the country is in danger of sinking into. The political responsibilities for the plundering of the funds are huge and belong to the present government. Our proposal is that the stolen money be returned to the funds of the workers," he added.

The plight of Greece's young people who were faced with ever-worsening prospects was also underlined by Alavanos:

"How can the prime minister, the finance minister or the employment minister look these young people in the eye at the same time that we have social insurance zones, each with worse length of insurance times, and continual deterioration of their conditions of work, insurance and education," he said.

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