Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-02-23

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

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK leader: No to double name for FYROM

[02] New SYN Central Committee

[01] PASOK leader: No to double name for FYROM

He further spoke of PASOK's prospects following its latest Congress, and noted an "open" possibility for cooperation with the Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (SYN), while he also said he was unwavering on the issue of transparency.

Papandreou said that PASOK, both as government in the past and as the main opposition today, explicitly ruled out the prospect of a double name for FYROM, and accused the government of "agreeing to negotiate a double-name solution". He also described as a "most adverse development" the "unilateral recognition (by countries) of Kosovo, outside the framework of the UN", and called on the government not to unilaterally recognise Kosovo independence.

He also endorsed the undertaking of "all the necessary initiatives in the UN and the EU for resolution of the Cyprus issue" and pledged that he will be at the side of the new President of Cyprus to emerge from this weekend's run-off election, both as president of PASOK and as president of Socialist International (SI).

Papandreou further differentiated himself from the stance of former (PASOK) prime minister Costas Simitis, who had backed a special relationship between the EU and Turkey, stressing that "our stance must remain that Turkey has the right to become a member of the EU, but also the obligation to fulfill, without divergence, the commitments it has undertaken towards all the EU member states".

To a question on there being possible political expediency behind PASOK's proposal for the setting up of a parliamentary fact-finding commission on the Siemens scandal, Papandreou replied that "our proposals are not revengistic", adding that "PASOK has nothing to fear in the Siemens case" and that his party "has not hesitated in taking difficult decisions in matters of transparency".

Asked whether members who had taken sides with Evangelos Venizelos or Costas Skandalidis in their candidacies for the party leadership against Papandreou would also be included in the PASOK organs, he said that "everyone has their work, role and responsibilities", while clarifying at the same time that "the rationale of sharing out positions and posts does not suit us".

Asked whether the idea of governmental cooperation with SYN had permanently collapsed, Papandreou replied that "the ability of programmatic cooperation is, for us, open...the quandary lies with the other side".

Caption: File photo of main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou. (ANA-MPA/K. Mavrona)

[02] New SYN Central Committee

In his opening address, Tsipras criticised the government over its stance on major issue that have already been "shelved", such as the telephone tappings and the case of the Pakistanis while, with respect to the Siemens graft case, he charged that the two mainstream parties (the ruling New Democracy party and main opposition PASOK) were refusing to "cut the umbilical cord with collusion".

Tsipras stressed the necessity of promiting unity of the Left, and blamed the government for the high cost of living, which he attributed to the "action of cartels".

On the FYROM name issue, he said that SYN's positions had been vindicated, and called on the prime minister to select a composite name containing a geographical determination, adding that prime minister Costas Karamanlis must abandon any thought of "exchange of the FYROM name with recognition of Kosovo".

Tsipras, who was elected to the SYN helm during the party's recent 5th Congress, said that "we want the Church at our side", adding that the change in the Church's stance with the new Archbishop was "encouraging", given that "we did not see calls for rallies on the FYROM issue". He also spoke positively of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, stressing the primate's "ecological sensitivities" and calling him a "Green Patriarch".

The new SYN leader further proposed the established of a new elected party organ, an Executive Secretariat, which would be responsible for materialisation of the party's decisions, and which would comprise 17 members -- 15 members responsible, one each, for every region of the country, plust the president and the Secretary of the party.

The proposed Executive Secretariat should also have a sufficient period of time -- two years, for example -- to make an account of its actions and, if required, a new Secretariat should be elected at that time.

Tsipras also proposed the re-election of Nikos Hountis as party Secretary.

The Central Committee was due to elect the party's new Political Secretariat and new Secretary in the evening.

Caption: New Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (SYN) leader Alexis Tsipras. (ANA-MPA/P. Saitas)

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