BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN (18/01/1996) 2o

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@uranus.ee.auth.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency News in English Directory

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BY THE MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY

Thessaloniki January 18, 1996

NEWS IN ENGLISH

NEWS IN BRIEF

NEWS IN ENGLISH

[01] KOSTAS SIMITIS IS THE NEW PRIME MINISTER OF GREECE

PASOK Parliament Member Mr. Kostas Simitis is the new Premier of the country, after today's voting procedure in the ruloing party's Executive Buraeu.

Mr. Simitis was elected with 86 votes, while 75 parliament members cast their ballot for the other close contender, Mr. Akis Tsohatzopoulos. Six MPs cast a blank vote.

Immediately after the announcement of the election outcome, mr. Simitis stated that his is not a personal victory, but a victory in the name of unity and for the left-wing prospects.

Mr. Simitis also said that he will personally visit the ailing former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou, who is hospitalized at the Onasion Cardiology Center, in order to announce to him the election outcome. The new Prime Minister added that his relationship with Mr. Papandreou is a deep, political one.

The new Premier's motto is "unity-revival-victory."

The second candidate, Minister of Interior Affairs, Decentralization and Public Administration Akis Tsohatzopoulos, who received warm applause from the MPs when he approached the podium, called the moment a historical one for the country's political history and congratulated the Parliamentary Group for the "exqusitely democratic" manner in which the votes were cast.

Mr. Tsohatzopoulos, who had often substituted the former Premier Mr. Papandreou during the previous two months of the latter's hospitalization, also added that "regardless of the outcome, the party will stay united."

The third candidate for the prime ministerial title was Minister of Defense Gerasimos Arsenis, who congratulated Mr. Simitis on his victory and stated that the party will support the new government in order to lead PASOK to victory in the next elections.

The last to address the parliament members was the fourth candidate Mr. Yiannis Haralambopoulos. He stated that a new page is turned today in the country's political life and said that all those involved with the elections were winners because the democratic procedures were followed to a letter.

Mr. Haralambopoulos predicted that beginning tomorrow, the solemn climate of the recent times will be averted and the greek people will re-gain their confidence.

Kostas Simitis was born in Pireaus on June 26, 1936. He studied Law in Germany and economics in the London School of Economics while in 1965 he returned to Greece. He was one of the founders of the political research group "Alexandros Papanastasiou" and in 1967 the group was transformed into the "Democratic Defence" an organization that was fighting the army colonels of the greek junta.

He escaped abroad in order to avoid being jailed and in 1970 became a member of the Pan-Hellenic Struggle Movement (PAK), while he became a university lecturer in Germany. He returned to Athens in 1974 and was one of PASOK's co-founders while in 1977 he took up a lecturer's post at the Pantion University.

In 1979 he resigned from the party's Executive Bureau in which he was a member since PASOK's founding after a disagreement over a poster with the slogan "in favour of a Europe of the peoples".

In 1981-85 was Minister of Agriculture in the first PASOK government. Immediately afterwards he became Minister of National Economy and resigned his post in 1987 because he felt that his policies were being undermined. In 1993 he took over the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and in 1995 he resigned from the ministry and the party's Executive Bureau after a disagreement with the Prime Minister. Is being elected Parliament deputy for the prefecture of Pireaus since 1985.

He is married to Daphne Arcadiou and has two daughters.

[02] NEW PRIME MINISTER SPEAKS OF UNITY, REVIVAL AND VICTORY

The new Prime Minister of Greece, Mr. Kostas Simitis is optimistic that PASOK will lead the way to better days and will win the party elections scheduled to take place two years from now.

"Unity and revival will lead to victory at the next elections," said Mr. Simitis who called upon the party members to proceed with the order that his predecessor Andreas Papandreou had outlined .

"Our perseverance to certain values, the freedom of will, the critical stand on certain issues," are all views to be recognized, said Mr. Simitis who added that the party's MPs also want the revival as they want PASOK to realize a new course, one that is based on its up-to- date accomplishments.

The newly-elected Premier also acknowledged the defeated candidates whom he characterized as party members who have worked very hard.

Regarding the upcoming government reformation, Mr. Simitis said that there is an array of able men and women who will lead PASOK forward. Mr. Simitis added that he will cooperate with them, as they will cooperate with him.

[03] MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY LEADER CONGRATULATES NEW PRIME MINISTER

The President of the main opposition party New Democracy, Mr. Miltiades Evert, congratulated the newly- elected Prime Minister Mr. Kostas Simitis and wished him success "for the good of the country."

Mr. Evert offered his congratulations immediately after the election results were announced. He said that this appointment magnifies his own responsibilities to see that "we will not allow the mistakes of the last two years to be repeated."

The President of New Democracy added that he will wait until after the reshuffle of the new government before forming more concise opinions.

[04] PASOK CENTRAL COMMITTEE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE

"The Central Committee has already decided," said the Committee's Secretary Kostas Skandalides when asked about the priority-setting proposals to be made to the newly elected Premier Kostas Simitis.

Also, Parliament member Kyriakos Spyriounis, who is based in Thessaloniki and had withdrawn from the party's Parliamentary Group during the summer after a decision taken by the then-Premier Andreas Papandreou, stated that "PASOK is returning to its natural nest."

[05] PREMIERSHIP WILL BE A DIFFICULT TASK, SAYS MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS

The greek Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Karolos Papoulias, cast a shadow of realism in his statements made tonight following the election of Mr. Kostas Simitis to Prime Minister.

"We are near him," Mr. Papoulias said, "and we grant him our absolute trust, not just to him as a person but to PASOK as well."

The Foreign Affairs Minister characterized Mr. Simitis' new task as a difficult one.

He said that there is an array of problems that Mr. Simitis will be asked to address, but also, and perhaps more importantly, he will be compared to his predecessor, Andreas Papandreou. He also made mention of many surprises in store and added that there are unresolved foreign policy issues that demand specific attention.

Referring to Mr. Simitis, Mr. Papoulias said that he considers him to be "an able man who can accomplish many things in the future."

The Minister declined to speculate on the possibility of his partaking in the new government upon its reformation.

[06] COMMUNIST PARTY OF GREECE SAYS "THIS IS JUST MORE OF THE SAME"

"The new Premier has just been handed over the torch of subordination to Brussells and Washington," stated the Communist Party of Greece spokesperson, Mr. Makis Kopsides, commending on the recently-elected Prime Minister, Kostas Simitis.

The Party spokesperson, with a pessimistic tone, added that the new Premier is bound to meet the demands and expectations of the ruling oligarchy and not the working class.