Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-09-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK leader visits Athens party pavilion

[01] PASOK leader visits Athens party pavilion

Papandreou visited the various sections of the pavilion and signed the volunteers book for the reforestation of regions in the country that have been ravaged by wildfires.

In an another development, PASOK on Wednesday promised to reverse several policies currently being followed by ruling New Democracy if it won Sunday's election. PASOK spokesman Yiannis Raggousis stressed that "it is up to every Greek citizen to freely and emancipatedly decide whether the country, on September 17, will have a George Papandreou and PASOK government, or Costas Karamanlis and ND".

Among the measures Raggousis listed were a stop to all moves to revise article 24 of the Constitution, which he said were catastrophic for the environment, or the present government's equally environmentally damaging special town plan for Greek islands and the creation of an independent environment ministry.

He also promised that PASOK would create a government "that truly respects democratic freedoms" and contrasted this with the record of current public order minister Vyron Polydoras.

More particularly, Raggousis emphasised the government's tax reforms that he said were "letting off the rich and increasing indirect taxation like VAT".

Referring to allegations that the government had agreed to an increase in the retirement age for women, made by PASOK leader George Papandreou on Wednesday citing a government document, Raggousis said this confirmed what PASOK had been saying all along about ND's secret agenda.

"Mr. Papandreou today apprised the Greek people, because the services in question already knew, of a document dated September 2006 based on which it appears that the government of Mr. Karamanlis not only asked to comply and indicated its intention to comply with the specific Community directive but that it has so little negotiating power within the EU that its request was denied and legal action taken against our country," he said.

Reading the last paragraph of the document in question, he said that Greek authorities had asked the European Commission to suspend the process against Greece until the deadline for compliance had expired on 15 August 2008.

The spokesman accused Karamanlis and the government of failing to inform the Greek people that there would be such a change equating retirement ages and other terms between men and women and said that the government had attempted to hide this fact.

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