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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-07-04
CONTENTS
[01] Papandreou: 5 initiatives for Siemens scandal
[01] Papandreou: 5 initiatives for Siemens scandal
Main opposition PASOK plans to undertake five initiatives to address
the Siemens scandal, PASOK leader George Papandreou announced on
Friday after a meeting of PASOK's Political Council. The first of
these will be to propose a session of Parliament's plenum next week,
during which MPs will vote on setting up a Parliamentary
investigation into the Siemens case, he said.
The main opposition leader once again attacked the government and
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis over its handling of the affair,
while he accused Karamanlis of being "weak-willed" and a "hostage to
interests" and held him responsible for what he claimed was an
attempted cover up.
He also commented on the part of Culture Minister Mihalis Liapis and
the revelations placing the minister in the same hotel abroad as
Siemens CEO Mihalis Christoforakos about three years earlier,
claiming that Liapis was in an untenable position given that the
company had been contending to win public-sector contracts in
sectors that Liapis, who was then minister for transport, had been
in charge of.
The other PASOK proposals announced by Papandreou included that the
government take legal action against Siemens to seek compensation;
that state services, such as the finance ministry's Special Audits
Service, be mobilised; that the independent authority against
money-laundering headed by George Zorbas be activated; and that
companies which admitted to paying kickbacks in order to win
contracts should not longer qualify for state procurement
contracts.
PASOK's president stressed also, that responsibility in the affair
did not only concern those that were directly involved but also
those that attempted to cover up the truth.
CAPTION: Main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou addressing
the Socialist International Congress held in Athens earlier this
week, where he was re-elected SI President. (ANA-MPA/PASOK PRESS
OFFICE)
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