MPA NEWS IN BRIEF (30/06/1996)

From: Macedonian Press Agency <mpa@philippos.mpa.gr>

Macedonian Press Agency Brief News in English Directory

BRIEF GREEK NEWS BULLETIN BU MACEDONIAN PRESS

AGENCY

Thessaloniki, June 30, 1996

TITLES

NEWS IN DETAIL

[01] KOSTAS SIMITIS IS THE NEW PRESIDENT OF PASOK

The PASOK party fourth congress came to a close today with the election of the prime minister Kostas Simitis to the hierarchy's top seat of the party.

Mr. Simitis received 2,732 (56 per cent) of the votes cast by the 5,215 PASOK members who participated in the congress, while the post's other top contender, Interior Minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos, received 2,324 (44 per cent of the votes), marking a slide rule difference of 408 votes.

The election of Kostas Simitis in the post of the party's president was the condition he had set so that he continues to hold the prime minister post, to which he was elected by his party's deputies in January following the resignation of the late Andreas Papandreou.

Now Mr. Simitis is expected to proceed in a reshuffle of his government and, yet, it remains to be seen whether prominent members of the party who did not support him will hold on to their seats in the new Cabinet.

Prime Minister Kostas Simitis was born in Pireaus on June 26, 1936. He studied Law in Germany and economics at the London School of Economics before returning to Greece in 1965.

Mr. Simitis 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 fought the greek junta's army colonels. He escaped abroad in order to avoid incarceration and in 1970 became a member of the Pan-Hellenic Struggle Movement (PAK), prior to becoming a university lecturer in Germany. He returned to Athens in 1974 to become one of PASOK's co-founders, and in 1977 he began lecturing at the Pantion University.

Two years later he resigned from the party's Executive Bureau, of which he had been a member since PASOK's founding, following a disagreement over a poster with the slogan "in favour of a Europe of the peoples."

In the four-year period between 1981-1985 Mr. Simitis served as Minister of Agriculture during PASOK's first reign in government. Shortly thereafter he became Minister of National Economy, only to resign from his post in 1987 feeling that his policies were being undermined. In 1993 he took over the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and in September 1995 he resigned from the ministry and the party's Executive Bureau after a disagreement with the then Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. He has been continuously elected Parliament deputy for the prefecture of Pireaus since 1985.

In January 1996, after Andreas Papandreou's resignation, Mr. Simitis was elected to the premiership by the ruling PASOK's deputies in the second round against his current opponent Akis Tsohatzopoulos.

The Premier is married to Daphne Arcadiou and has two daughters.

PASOK was founded in 1974, after the fall of the military dictatorship, by Andreas Papandreou.The party first came to power in 1981 and stayed in office untill 1989.

After a four-year stay in the opposition, PASOK, always under the leadership of Andreas Papandreou, returned to power in October of 1993.

In January 1996, Andreas Papandreou resigned after a long illness, and Mr. Simitis was elected prime minister by the party's deputies.

After the death of Andreas Papandreou, last Sunday, the congress, PASOK's fourth since 1974, had -for the first time- to elect a party president who would continue the legacy left behind by its founder.

[02] DEFENSE MINISTRY COMMENTS ON ISLET INCIDENT, "NO NEED TO WORRY"

"There is no cause of concern" for yesterday's incident at the Strogyli islet, located near the Imia islet in the northern part of the Aegean Sea, stated today the Minister of Defense Gerasimos Arsenis.

The Defense Minister stated that the incident, where reportedly unknown commandos landed on the islet, attacked the islet's lighthouse keeper and, after spraying him with a substance that rendered him unconscious, tore the greek flag apart, is not considered to be a hostile military act.

Meanwhile, the investigation that was carried out this morning revealed that although the flag was found on the ground with its cord cut, it had not been torn. More light is hoped to be shed in the matter through further investigations.

According to the broadcast, the victim, who was at the lighthouse with two of his friends, heard suspicious noise emanating from a nearby location and headed towards that direction. According to the lighthouse keeper, he was confronted by commandos who sprayed a substance in his face which rendered him unconscious.

The lighthouse keeper's friends, upon realizing that the man was not returning, went looking fom him and found him laying unconscious on a rock. After being revived through cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he told them that unknown commandos attacked him and tore the greek flag prior to leaving the islet.

[03] CONGRESS' EFFECT ON THE ECONOMY

With the new president of PASOK having been elected, economists are anxiously anticipating the efffects to be brought about by the congress outcome.

So far, the general indicator remained stable at the Athens Stock Exchange, although a slight decrease of .16 per cent was noted, a factor attributed to the uncertainty noted from small investors.

Calmness also prevailed in the exchange market, which showed an outflow of $93 million, the Bank of Greece was not forced to intervene, while this week's small upward trend in interest rates continued in the inter-bank drachma market, by another half a unit.

[04] NAUTICAL WEEK CELEBRATIONS BEGIN IN THESSALONIKI

Week-long celebrations that honor the Greek navy, as well as the country's commerce shipping, have began in Thessaloniki's port today.

The "Nautical Week" festivities are aimed at gaining the attention of even those who seem to favor the mountainous atmosphere and, as such, its motto is "Seafarers are in the Sea. Mountaineers must come near them."

The festivities are a result of collaborative efforts between the municipalities of Thessaloniki and Kalamaria.

[05] ATHENS SHOULD HOST 2004 GAMES, SAYS MEMBER OF OLYMPICS COMMITTEE

Athens should be the city to host the 2004 Olympic Games, stated the gold medalist and member of the Olympic Games International Committee Richard Pound.

Mr. Pound is expected to replace the Committee's current President Juan Antonio Samaranc, when the latter retires.

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