Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-05-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] ND's Mitsotakis repeats call for early elections, addressing Parliament

[02] Police clash with anti-establishment rioters in Exarchia, Syntagma Square

[03] Open letter to European leaders to help Greece, wrap up review

[01] ND's Mitsotakis repeats call for early elections, addressing Parliament

"In this country it has now become a historic necessity to speak the language of truth," he said and noted that the country was now being asked to take additional measures by its creditors as a "premier's personal unreliability clause".

"There are lies, damned lies and Mr. Tsipras," he said, paraphrasing Mark Twain, citing the prime minister's earlier promises and accused the Labour and Social Insurance Minister George Katrougalos of "amoralism of the worst kind," noting that he had in the past gone to court over measures that he was now proposing.

"The measures we are voting on today are the bill for your delays, ineptitude and unreliability...at the end of 2014 there was no demand to reduce main pensions, only supplementary pensions," he said.

He criticised the proposed measures, saying they relied too heavily on taxation and would not allow a return to growth, while noting that the pension system reforms did not touch the so-called "aristocratic funds" that burdened the system, calling for a reduction in spending.

Greece needed a reduction of taxation and a reduction of state spending, Mitsotakis said, whereas the government's bill increased taxes and contributions, leading to an inevitable increase of tax evasion and contribution evasion.

"This bill is the epitome of you ineptitude...it took you nine months to deliver this mess," he added, noting that the proposed measures cut pensions of those retiring from now on, "wiped out" the self-employed, mocked farmers and reduced the real income of all workers, as well as their tax-free allowance. "Will this, perhaps, be the last intervention? Unfortunately, the precise opposite is true. It is certain that the citizens' sacrifices will be for naught," he said.

According to Mitsotakis, there was another way and hope, "a way of truth, an agreement of truth that addresses the biggest problem in relations between politicians and society, which is a problem of trustworthiness. The country must create wealth and not redistribute poverty."

The fiscal policy mix chosen by the government would not achieve this and the precautionary measures demanded by the creditors would be made mandatory, he added.

"Unfortunately, the creditors are also responsible for this development because they have accepted a package of tax raids that they know will not bring a result and demanding additional measures, so that the total of measures reaches 12 billion," he said, promising that ND will reduce taxes and repeating his demand for elections.

[02] Police clash with anti-establishment rioters in Exarchia, Syntagma Square

Six were detained during violence that erupted in Exarchia at around 22:30 on Sunday night near Stournari and Bouboulinas Street, where the rioters set up makeshift barricades using burning dumpsters and attacked police with fire bombs and other objects.

Three had been detained earlier during incidents around Syntagma Square.

ELAS said that around 50 people currently remain in Exarchia Square but calm has been restored throughout.

Police also announced the launch of an investigation into the injury of Popular Unity (LAE) Political Secretariat Sofi Papadogianni, who claimed she was hit on the head by a teargas canister while peacefully protesting in Syntagma Square.

[03] Open letter to European leaders to help Greece, wrap up review

In an open letter, they noted that this was necessary in order to avoid provoking a suffocation Greece and its democratically elected government under the pressure of permanent demands by its creditors to service the debt.

"The catastrophic humanitarian situation in Greece has been known for some time. Added to it are the unusual burdens borne by the Greek people for the reception and care of refugees. In this situation, Greece needs the real support of its European neighbours and not additional measures for cuts. After years of deprivation and economic collapse, to ask these is political blindness to reality, is economically inexcusable and unacceptable to demand of the Greek people," the letter says.

The letter was reproduced by the German economic magazine oxiblog.de and is addressed to the leaders of several large EU countries, including the UK's David Cameron, French President Francois Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The list of those that have signed the letter so far is given below:

Nicola Acocella, Roma, Italia, economist

Elmar Altvater, Berlin, Germany, political economist, member of the scientific council of ATTAC-Germany

Antoine Artous, Paris, France, political scientist

Étienne Balibar, Paris, France, philosopher

Thomas Barth, Ilmmünster/München, Germany, sociologist

Rudolph Bauer, Bremen, Germany, sociologist, publicist

Seyla Benhabib, Yale, USA, philosopher, political scientist

Stefan Bestmann, Berlin, Germany, social research

Jacques Bidet, Paris, France, philosopher

Hans-Jürgen Bieling, Tübingen, Germany, political scientist

Gretchen Binus, Berlin, Germany, economist

Joachim Bischoff, Hamburg, Germany, sociologist and journalist

Heinz – J. Bontrup, Gelsenkirchen, Germany, Wirtschaftswissenschaftler

Andreas.Botsch, Berlin, Germany, economist

Miriam Boyer, Berlin, Germany, sociologist, social scientist

Reiner Braun, Berlin, Germany, Co-President of the International Peace Bureau (IPB)

Michael Brie, Schöneiche, Germany, philosopher

Andrea Brock, Hürth, Germany, international relations

Susan Buck-Morss, New York, USA, philosopher, intellectual historian

Judith Butler, Berkely, Calif., USA, philosopher

Claude Calame, Paris, France, social anthropologist

Mario Candeias, Berlin, Germany, political scientist

Patrice Cohen-Séat, Paris, France, lawyer, honorary president of Espaces-Marx

Laurence Cox, Dublin, Eire, sociologist

Alexis Cukier, Strasbourg, France, philosopher

Rolf Czeskleba-Dupont, Hvalsï, Danmark, geographer

Bo Dahlqvist, Waterloo, Belgium, student

Georgios Daremas, Athens, Hellas, member of the Executive Committee of Attac-Hellas

Nick Dearden, London, Great Britain, campaigner, director of a democratic justice organisation

Judith Dellheim, Berlin, Germany, political economist

Andreas Diers, Bremen, Germany, historian

Stéphane Douailler, Paris, France, philosopher

Sebastian Dullien, Berlin, Germany, economist

Rolf Eckart, München, Germany, social activist

Roland Erne, Dublin, Eire, Senior Lecturer, School of Business, University College Dublin

Trevor Evans, Berlin, Germany, economist

Michael Ewert, München, Germany, Germanist

Jean Louis Fabiani, Budapest, Magyar Hungary, sociologist / social anthropologist

Karl Fischbacher, Wien, Austria, Labournet-Austria

Nancy Fraser, New York, USA, critical theorist,

Hans-Peter Gase, München, Germany, member of "Sozialforum München"

Dorothea Härlin, Berlin, Germany, member of „Berliner Wassertisch"

Peter Herrmann, Roma, Italia, social scientist

Gustav Horn, Düsseldorf, Germany, economist

Claus-Dieter König, Brussel/Bruxelles, Belgium, director of the Brussels office of a foundation

Joachim Klein, Offenbach, Germany, political theory and philosophy

Jürgen Klute, Herne, Ex-MEP, Germany

Sudhir Kumar, Chennai, India, architect

Jeremy Leaman, Loughborough, Great Britain, European Political Economy

Steffen Lehndorff, Duisburg, Germany, social researcher

Jürgen Leibiger, Radebeul, Germany, economist

Brian Leslie, Tunbridge Wells, Great Britain, economist

Jakic Ljubomir, Bruxelles, Belgium, journalist

Camille Louis, Paris, France, philosopher and dramaturgist

Alberto Martínez Sánchez, Valencia, Spain, Vicepresident of ATTAC in the Valencia Region

Angie Mathieu, Paris, France, student/squatter

Sandro Mezzadra, Bologna, Italy, political theorist

Hans Misselwitz, Berlin, Germany

Margret Moenig-Raane, Berlin, Germany, former services trade union leader

Kalypso Nicolaïdis, Oxford, Great Britain, international relations

Norman Paech, Hamburg, Germany, jurist

Dagmar Paternoga, Bonn, Germany, Council Member of ATTAC Germany

Helmut Penschinski, Wuppertal, Germany, economist

Bruce Robbins, New York, NY, USA, English and Comparative Literature

Michelle Riot-Sarcey, Paris, France, historian

Thomas Sablowski, Frankfurt a.M., Germany,political scientist

Pierre Salama, Paris, France, Latin-American studies

Thomas Sauer, Jena, Germany, economist

Patrick Saurin, Paris, France, Spokesperson for the French Union Sud Solidaires BPCE

Gesine Schwan, Berlin, Germany, political scientist

Mechthild Schrooten, Bremen, Germany, economist

Ingo Schulze, Berlin, Germany, writer

Ursel Schumm-Garling, Berlin, Germany, sociologist

Lynne Segal, London, Great Britain, psycho-social Studies

Jai Sen, New Delhi, India, Director of CACIM – India Institute for Critical Action: Centre in Movement

Francis Sitel, France, political analyst

Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Coimbra, Portugal, social scientist

Dieter Spöri, Berlin, Germany, former minister of economics

Elsa Stamatopoulos, New York, NY, USA, jurist, anthropologist

Roland Süß, Birkenau, Germany, member of council of Attac-Germany

Rolf Sukowski, Berlin, Germany, chair of OWUS e.V.

Barbara Spinelli, MdEP, Roma, Italia

Axel Troost, MdB, Leipzig, Germany, economist

Hans-Jürgen Urban, Frankfurt a. M., Germany, Board of the Metalworkers' Union

Marie-Dominique Vernhes, Hamburg, Germany

Lode Vanoost, Sint-Genesius-Rode, Belgium, former Deputy Speaker of the Belgian House of Representatives

Guido Viale, Milano, Italia, economist

Antje Vollmer, Vizepräsidentin des Deutschen Bundestages a D, Berlin

Immanuel Wallerstein, New Haven, Conecticut, USA, social scientist and social historian

Angela Wigger, Nijmegen, Nederlands, international political economist

Ulrich Wilken, MdL, Germany, Frankfurt a. M.

Frieder Otto Wolf, Berlin, Ex-MEP, Germany, philosopher

Harald Wolf, MdA, Berlin, Germany

Andrea Ypsilanti, MdL, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

Gabi Zimmer, MdEP, Werder, Germany, group president

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