Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 17-03-10

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

CONTENTS

[01] 'Comprehensive solution' for Greek programme in April, PM Tsipras says

[02] SYRIZA-ANEL coalition proposes Parliamentary investigation of former minister Papantoniou

[03] Fired hospital managers will not be reinstated, despite CoS ruling, Alt. Health Minister Polakis says

[01] 'Comprehensive solution' for Greek programme in April, PM Tsipras says

"We will arrive at a comprehensive solution for the Greek problem very soon, in April," he said.

This insertion, which calls for special, additional and parallel actions to fight joblessness where this remains disproportionately high, was an indirect but clear admission that the austerity choice in the reform agenda has to be dealt with, and dealt with first in the countries where it has done the most damage, Tsipras said.

"What Greece needs is not more austerity but reinforcement of its growth potential," he said, adding that the special measures for Greece must include its participation in quantitative easing and measures to ease Greece's debt.

According to Tsipras, a growth prospect was the "only choice we have" in order for the programme and the country's debt to be sustainable, as well as to finally achieve its main goal and exit the crisis.

The Greek prime minister also referred to the refugee and migration crisis, noting a need to speed up the relocation process and fully staff EASO services on the Greek islands. Even though this had started moving, he said, it was still very far from the targets. In addition, he asked for a fair revision of the European asylum system.

Regarding Turkey, Tsipras said he had informed EU leaders about an escalation in both the quantity and quality of the rhetoric but also of the military activity currently emanating from the other side of the Aegean. Greece continues and will continue to be a pillar of stability, peace and security and remain unshaken and firm in its defence of international law and its sovereign rights, he stressed.

The message that all sides must send to Turkey is that of respecting international law in the Aegean and respecting good neighbourly relations.

Taking questions, Tsipras said it was possible to have a staff-level agreement (SLA) between the Greek government and the institutions before the Eurogroup on March 20 and then an overall agreement in April that will include medium-term debt relief measures. He admitted there was a delay, adding that the reasons for this were "known," but insisted that the prospect for a positive outcome remained.

Questioned about the IMF and whether he had asked IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde to make a commitment that the IMF will support Greece, Tsipras replied that he was "in constant communication" with the IMF chief.

"This communication is not always easy, the differences are given, but it is sincere," he added.

According to the Greek prime minister, he had asked the IMF to make its position clear, to not waste time, to maintain a firm position and make a commitment that, on the basis of the technocratic standards required for its participation in the Greek programme, there have to be specific actions to ease Greek debt.

"On this basis, yes, of course I asked for the IMF's commitment to not be 'a la carte' and only for measures relating to reforms," he said.

[02] SYRIZA-ANEL coalition proposes Parliamentary investigation of former minister Papantoniou

"There are signs that the offence of legalising income from criminal activity has been committed in several ways, which must be investigated," the joint SYRIZA-ANEL proposal stated, with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras heading the list of signatures.

Unlike most offences, that of legalising income from criminal activity - or more commonly money-laundering - is considered ongoing and does not become statute-barred. As the MPs signing the proposal pointed out, the various ways the offence can be expressed, such as ownership of property or investment of assets in the financial system, are considered ongoing and continuous crimes and thus their prosecution not subject to the same Constitutional constraints as the offences that generated the illegal income originally.

The proposal also notes that Papantoniou's name was included in a list of Greeks with large deposits in banks abroad - specifically 1.3 million euros held in an HSBC account by his wife - and also has a final conviction for an inaccurate wealth statement in 2009, as well as other similar cases pending.

Main opposition New Democracy and the opposition Potami, Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Democratic Alliance and Union of Centrists parties have all indicated that they will vote in favour of the proposal.

The ruling coalition's proposal was prompted after six criminal cases involving Papantoniou were referred by the justice system to Parliament, as public prosecutors are required to do in the case of investigations involving former ministers. The six cases relate to acts of breach of trust that resulted in major financial losses for the Greek State and are connected to the armament programmes for the purchase of 170 Leopard tanks, 12 Apache attack helicopters, six S-type frigates, electronic warfare systems and 20 NH90 transport helicopters.

In cases involving offences carried out by ministers or former ministers while in office, the Constitution stipulates that Parliament is empowered to conduct an inquiry and vote to refer former ministers to justice for offences until the end of the second regular Parliamentary session after the alleged offence or offences were committed.

Since all the offences of which Papantoniou is accused were carried out between 2001 and 2004, they have thus been statute-barred since September 28, 2006. The offence of legalising income from criminal activity is considered continuous however, so the same restriction does not apply.

In their proposal, the SYRIZA-ANEL MPs note that in one of the six cases against the former minister referred to Parliament, he is also under investigation for legalising income from illegal activity.

"In all the cases, instances have become known from which could be inferred indications of the generation of wealth from acts of breach of trust and the subsequent legalisation of income from criminal activity," they add.

[03] Fired hospital managers will not be reinstated, despite CoS ruling, Alt. Health Minister Polakis says

"The decision does not generate any practical result since their theoretical term of office has now ended. Therefore, there is no issue of their return," Polakis said in a Facebook post commenting on the ruling.

Accord to Greece's supreme administrative court, the dismissals of the managers and deputy managers of state hospitals carried out in 2015, following an evaluation process carried out by a five-member health ministry committee, were not legal.

Commenting on the court's decision, Polakis pointed out that the managers had been removed through a two-step evaluation process that included a score given by Regional Health Authority managers and an interview process before the committee, "which has never happened before in the history of the Greek State."

"We kept on the 15 that had a good assessment and had produced results. Our hospitals have legal administrations, selected on the basis of merit (via an open procedure among 1,500 applicants), which are continuing their work as normal," he said.

"Everyone can draw their own conclusions about the CoS and its decision...we press on..to the end in the struggle to reorganise the public health system and the fight against corruption in the sector," Polakis concluded.

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