Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-04-26

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

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK leader addresses Economist con'f

[01] PASOK leader addresses Economist con'f

Papandreou added that the socialist party's democratic wager is to give the citizen political strength and to guarantee that his voice will be heard at all levels.

He further said that the social wager for PASOK is to give the citizen confidence and protection, while the development wager concerns the utilisation of our comparative advantages.

Papandreou stressed that PASOK "is creating the correct mixture of balance between the market and state regulatory intervention to guarantee the dynamism of economic action on the one hand and freedom and the protection of citizens and of the environment on the other."

PASOK today, Papandreou said, was setting new priorities for Greece that are different even from those of the party's previous governments that prepared the country for a more creative, dynamic and fair society.

Papandreou defined his government's three main goals as follows:the first goal is viable development that will be based on knowledge and the green economy. The economy will have as a goal its transition into an economy of knowledge intensity and not of cheap, uninsured and unskilled labour.

He went on to say that "one will not only speak of convergence with the other European countries but also of a new development leap, considering that education is a crucial issue for the leap to take place", while also referring to the role of the public university and not at all to non-state-run universities.

The second great goal, that Papandreou termed a visionary one, is social agreement that will safeguard the society of solidarity and will focus on man. He also said that the state must guarantee the social insurance system, meaning viability and tripartite funding, and stressed that social insurance is a guaranteed collective commodity and not an individual issue for each person.

The third goal is the creation of an effective state with strong regions. There will be a new structuring of the country with fewer and stronger municipalities. He said that it is a great and difficult reform that, however, is absolutely necessary.

Papandreou said that the government "is creating harm now" and reiterated his appeal for elections (elections are normally due in the country in March 2008).

He also mentioned that there are many today who, regardless of whatever motives, are expressing concern over the prolonged period that the country has entered.

Lastly, Papandreou stressed that PASOK is ready to rule and accused the government of preoccupying itself with the production of fictitious reforms, undermining the future of the economy and weakening the social fabric.

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