Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 01-10-21

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From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.

CONTENTS

[01] BROAD GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE NEXT WEEK

[02] KARAMALIS: «ND WILL CHECK ALL PUBLIC WORKS»

[03] TENSIONS IN THE COALITION OF THE LEFT

[04] PASOK E.O. AND SECRETARY ELECTIONS TOMORROW

[05] 4TH SAE WORLD CONVENTION ALMOST READY

[06] EUROPEAN COOPERATION AGAINST TERRORISM

[01] BROAD GOVERNMENT RESHUFFLE NEXT WEEK

Prime minister Kostas Simitis will proceed to a broad government reshuffle next week after the clear and strong mandate he received in the 6th PASOK Party Congress last Sunday.

Mr. Simitis stated that the government reshuffle will take place after the EU Summit meeting in Gent, Belgium on Thursday and the new PASOK central committee meeting on Monday.

Yesterday, government spokesman Dimitris Reppas stated that all the ministers and undersecretaries in the government will be evaluated anew.

This afternoon, Mr. Simitis will meet with the responsible ministers to prepare the Greek presence in the Gent EU Summit meeting.

[02] KARAMALIS: «ND WILL CHECK ALL PUBLIC WORKS»

Ôhe President of New Democracy, Kostas Karamanlis, criticized the government on its economic and public works policies, speaking at the meeting of the Party's Central Committee on the communal elections.

After Kostas Laliotis', Minister of the Environment, Planning and Public Works, statements against former Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis and New Democracy, Mr. Karamanlis made mention of an organized plan of PASOK against all parties of the opposition, and added that New Democracy will not follow PASOK in its course of attacks.

"Truly democratic and progressive powers, must stand with complete self-control and a feeling of responsibility. Their plan does not only concern us, it also concerns the Left wing. They are attacking us directly. They are trying to do away with the Left, indirectly", stressed Mr. Karamanlis and added: "Let us answer them with the truth as our weapon. With the upgrading of public life, protection of the essence of issues and the quality of democracy as our steady principle. That is the criterion, and that is what we are all judged by".

Mr. Karamanlis pointed out that New Democracy will check all public works in all of Greece. He spoke of poor workmanship and overstepping budgets, while in relation to the National Land Register, he noted that Greece is being exposed to the whole of Europe and that the tax payers will have to pay the 'bill'.

Mr. Karamanlis stated that so called creative logistics have taken on immense proportions, while he mentioned insubstantial budgets, hidden debts and a new black hole, 40 billion drs. in the National Land Register case.

[03] TENSIONS IN THE COALITION OF THE LEFT

Relations between the President of the Coalition of the Left, Nikos Konstantopoulos, and MP of the Party Maria Damanaki are tense, after their intense confrontation in yesterday's meeting of the Coalition's Central Political Committee.

In his speech Nikos Konstantopoulos recognized the right to disagree and to have a different opinion, but he criticized Mrs. Damanaki on not limiting herself to that, but publicly distorting and jeering his position in the Coalition, in relation to terrorism and the bombing of Afghanistan, as well as on his position towards other left wing parties and powers.

On the other hand, Mrs. Damanaki stated that she will not resign from any office, she is still an MP of the Coalition and took up criticism due to the party's turn to neocommunist principles.

[04] PASOK E.O. AND SECRETARY ELECTIONS TOMORROW

The staff members of PASOK are concentrating on tomorrow's meeting of the party's Central Committee, it's first after the 6th congress, since on the following day (Tuesday), it is very possible that the Prime Minister will announce the government's new structure.

The Central Committee will elect a new Secretary, and so far all information indicates Kostas Laliotis, since, so far, no other candidacies have been submitted, and the 11 members of the Executive Office. Deliberations are taking place off the political scene for the appointing of the E.O. members, and there will be some indications about the government reshuffling from Kostas Simitis' choices.

[05] 4TH SAE WORLD CONVENTION ALMOST READY

The organizational preparations for the 4th World Convention of the Council of Greeks Living Abroad (SAE) have been almost completed, stated Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, responsible for issues of Greeks living abroad, Grigoris Niotis to the Macedonian Press Agency.

Mr. Niotis, who presided over the Organizational Committee for the 4th SAE World Convention meeting in the SAE offices of Thessaloniki, characterized the World Convention as symbolic and important, since it is the first to bring unity and coordination to Greeks living abroad in the new millennium.

The central message of the 4th World Convention is the participation of Greeks living abroad in the 2004 Olympics, and their promotion as a valuable aid, which will support and promote this national event in the 144 countries where they live, with the volunteer network as its basic source.

[06] EUROPEAN COOPERATION AGAINST TERRORISM

A common stance and cooperation against terrorism was the topic of discussion yesterday at the European Conference of the Foreign Affairs Ministers of 41 countries.

During the meeting, in which Foreign Affairs Ministers of member-states of the EU, candidate countries for accession, Balkan countries, and, for the first time, Russia participated, a common view on the issue by all countries and the need to reinforce cooperation within the frameworks of the UN in the fight against terrorism was ascertained.

Referring to the Greek initiative for discussions between different cultures, Minister of Foreign Affairs Giorgos Papandreou pointed out that religion cannot be used as an excuse for violence, terrorism and war, and also stressed that Cyprus could be a role model of two different cultures.

In a joint press conference with Cyprus' Minister of Foreign Affairs Ioannis Katsoulidis, Mr. Papandreou underlined that Greece and Cyprus have contributed substantially to the fight against terrorism since September 11, specifically in tracking down individuals and accounts linked to money laundering. He also said that the fight against terrorism is now among the issues of political discussions between the EU and accession candidate countries.

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