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Athens News Agency: News in English, 08-08-28Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PM meets New Democracy secretaryPrime minister Costas Karamanlis met on Thursday with his ruling New Democracy (NBD) party's secretary Lefteris Zagoritis.In statements to the press after the meeting, Zagoritis said that the economic measures that were unveiled on Wednesday were mandatory, and that was why the government decided them. It was the first meeting between Zagoritis and Karamanlis after the summer holidays. "It was a regular meeting, in which issues concerning the party's acitivities and policy matters were discussed," added Zagoritis. Referring to the government's economic measures, Zagoritis said that the people understand that the measures are necessary and also comprehend the government's effort to implement it's policy without burdening the lower income brackets. Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Maximos mansion [02] Tsipras critisizes gov'tCoalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (SYN) leader Alexis Tsipras lashed out at the government on its education policy, during a visit Thursday to the town of Evdilos on the island of Ikaria, southeastern Aegean, and called the education minister a "sponsor of the (franchise) colleges", following the announcement of the minimum university entrance grade points a day earlier, according to which some 60,000 candidate students did not gain entry into higher education institutions.Tsipras charged that the "government ship has run aground, and is taking on water everywhere", while "its captain acts as if nothing is wrong and states his determination to continue governing the shipwreck with responsibility and decisiveness". The SYN leader noted that prime minister Costas Karamanlis, just one year ago, sought renewal of the people's verdict in order to 'repair' the budget. "The mandate was renewed and, without fear of an electoral cost, the government has wrought havoc in the social security funds, sold-off OTE (Hellenic Telecommunications Organization), is leading Olympic Airways and OTE to bankruptcy, is targeting labor rights. But he has not managed to fix the budget," Tsipras said. He also accused criticised the justice system, accusing the Areios Paghos (Greek supreme court) prosecutors' office of "covering up all the scandals that have seen the light of day", adding that the government was taking care to be "useful and pleasant to the judges, as it is not grudging on retroactive (salary increases) nor in blatant interventions in justice's work". Turning to the financial situation of the weaker social strata, Tsipras charged that the government's agenda contaned even more indirect taxes, salary increases below the inflation rate, and pensions below the poverty level. Caption: ANA-MPA file photo of Synaspismos party leader Alexis Tsipras Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |