The Hellenic Radio (ERA): News in English, 09-05-11

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From: The Hellenic Radio (ERA) <www.ert.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Political Wrangle Running High

PASOK president Giorgos Papandreou delivering a speech in the General Committee of SEV stressed that the country is marching adrift as the government is paralyzed and is in confusion. Mr. Papandreou asked again for national elections because the citizens, as he said have to decide whether the country must continue going down.

On reference to the early closure of Parliament he underlined that such actions are not appropriate to a developed county, they lead to dismissing cases that are still under investigation and they help to the creation of the impression that total political asylum and lawlessness prevail in the country.

"Mr. Papandreou proves for once more that he is in confusion and that still does not want to realize what is going on around him, around Greece and around the world in general", governmental spokesman Mr. Antonaros stressed. Greek FM Dora Bakoyiannis said that Mr. Papandreou should not have turned Euro elections into a referendum because as she stressed those who are targeting high are in danger of achieving less.

On reference to the early closure of Parliament, Communist Party of Greece (KKE) general secretary Aleka Papariga estimated that the possibility of national parliamentary elections taking place along with the European ones is difiicult and added that the vote in favor of PASOK or ruling party New Democracy will be a vote in favor of the dismissing of responsibilities held by the two parties' members.

Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) president Alexis Tsipras accused the Prime Minister of running away and hiding from his responsibilities and added that Mr. Karamanlis is governing without the society's consent, without even the consent of those that voted him. Commenting on the Parliament's shut down, Mr, Tsipras said that this movement aimed at dismissing penal responsibilities. He also stressed that the Prime Minister could not continue pulling tricks, like walking away from Parliament or exonerating Mr. Pavlidis from blame, so he closed the Parliament.

Source: ΝΕT-ΝΕΤ 105,8-ΑNA/ΜNA

News item: 22159

[02] ADEDY Stages 24-hour Strike

ADEDY (Civil Servants Supreme Administrative Council) is staging a 24-hour strike across Greece at Klafthmonos Square at 11:00, 14 May, in protest of the government's revenue policy. The civil servants also demand the Social Welfare Fund and the Fund for Civil Servants to be financed immediately, as well as real pay and pension rises, as well as a permanent work contract with the public sector.

As per ADEDY President Spyros Papaspyros, the majority of civil servants will not get a pay rise this year but instead have a nominal decrease of his income due to the non-indexation of the tax table.

The ADEDY Presidium points out that civil servants see their wages and salaries decreasing, while pending applications for lump sum will exceed 20,000 in the next five months and moreover seven months have to pass until the main pension is paid to benefactors.

In parallel, new problems have arisen in medical treatment as more than 90 examinations have been excluded.

News item: 22150

[03] C. Karamanlis Visits Sweden

Sources: ΝΕΤ, ΝΕΤ 105.8

News item: 22143

[04] Pope Benedict Visits Israel

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Israel after his visit to Amman, Jordan. Within the framework of his five-day visit, the Pontiff will visit Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem and later today he will visit the Holocaust museum. Israeli President Simon Perez, Prime Minister Benjamin Netaniahu and other Israeli officials welcomed the Pope at Ben Gurion Airport.

The Pope Asks for Free Access to Jerusalem

In his speech at the official reception ceremony, Pope Benedict stressed that he had arrived in Israel and the Palestinian territory to pray for peace in the trouble region. He asked for free and unlimited access to Jerusalem for all worshipers.

Referring to Christianity, Islam and Judaism, he said that all three monotheist religions have one thing in common, the special respect to that town.

Tight Security Measures

The Israeli authorities have taken tight security measures for the Pontiff's visit. Earlier, the Israeli police had closed the Palestinian Press Centre in eastern Jerusalem, banning any official Palestinian activity.

At the inauguration of the Press Centre yesterday, the Director of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Rafik Al Husein invited the Pope to cooperate with the Palestinians to end the occupation of eastern Jerusalem. Israel is the second leg of Pope Benedict's tour in the Middle East. Prior to that he had paid a three-day official visit to Jordan, during which he reiterated his appeal for religious tolerance between the Christians and the Muslims.

Source: Reuters- CNN - BBC - ΑNA

News item: 22133

[05] Cross-Party Committee for the European Elections

Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos chaired a cross-party meeting Monday morning and set the rules for the promotion of the political parties by the Mass Media for the European Elections, due to be held on 7 June. It was unanimously decided after the relative legislation changed that poll results could be publicized until Friday 5 June.

The cross-party committee will recommend poll companies to see to the strict implementation of deontology rules.

What applied for the 2004 European elections would still be in force for the June elections. The relevant decision will be sent to the Radio-TV National Council today, as the independent authority is responsible for the implementation of the rules. The amount to be availed for the purchase of radio-tv time on the Radio-TV channels in Greece amounts to six million euros, that is, the same amount that was spent in the last national elections. After the end of the meeting, Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos stressed that the ministry is ready for the European Elections.

Participating in the committee were ND (Conservatives) MP Lefteris Zagoritis, PASOK (Socialists) MP Miltiadis Papaioannou, KKE (Communists) MP Antonis Skylakos, SYN (Coalition of the Left) MP Dimitris Dariotis and LAOS (Popular Orthodox Rally) MP Konstantinos Skandalakis.

Sources: ΝΕΤ-ΝΕΤ 105.8-ΑNA/ΜPA

News item: 22146

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