From: miltos@nfl2.irc.nrc.ca Subject: News (in ENGLISH)- Wed, 13 Oct 1993 (Greek Press Office BBS, Ottawa). Athens News Agency bulletin, October 13, 1993 Athens, 13/10/93 (ANA) - Prime Minister-designate and Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) leader Andreas Papandreou will be surrounded by many familiar faces today when he takes the prime minister's oath of office for the third time. George Yennimatas, Karolos Papoulias and Gerasimos Arsenis, are slated to fill the key national economy and finance, foreign, and defence posts respectively. All are trusted colleagues who served in at least one cabinet post during the two successive PASOK governments in the Eighties. Mr Yennimatas, one of the party's founding members, has held the labour, interior, national economy and health posts, and has close ties to Greece's labour unions. He will assume both the national economy and finance portfolios, just as his conservative predecessor, Stephanos Manos, did. Mr Papoulias will return to familiar ground at the foreign ministry, where he served as under-secretary for four years before assuming the ministry's portfolio from 1985 to 1989. Theodoros Pangalos will serve as his alternate, a post he, too, has held before, but will handle Greece's relations with the European Community and preparations for Greece's assumption of the rotating EC presidency on January 1. George Papandreou, the prime minister's son and former education minister, will hold the post of foreign under-secretary. Mr Arsenis is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former national economy and finance minister. Anastasios Peponis will assume the key post of Minister to the Prime Minister's Office while Apostolos (Akis) Tsohatzopoulos, the new interior minister, will oversee next year's municipal elections. The public order ministry will be headed by Stelios Papathemelis. Melina Merkouri will return to the culture ministry and Constantine Laliotis, who masterminded PASOK's election campaign, will assume the environment and public works portfolio. Constantine Simitis, a former national economy minister, will assume both the commerce and industry portfolios and Ioannis Haralambous will assume the transport and communications portfolio. The labour ministry will be headed by Evangelos Yiannopoulos, while George Kouvelakis and Dimitris Fatouros will assume the posts of justice and education minister respectively. Papandreou's personal physician, cardiology professor Dimitris Kremastinos, will be sworn in as the new minister of health, welfare and social security and the agriculture portfolio will be assumed by George Moraitis. The PASOK leader's close associate, Antonis Livanis, will serve in the special post of Deputy Minister to the Prime Minister. PASOK said in a statement that the party would nominate Apostolos Kaklamanis as parliament president. It also expressed Mr Papandreou's regrets that a post commensurate to the status of former deputy prime minister Yiannis Haralambopoulos had not been found in the announced cabinet. The announcement added that procedures to restore former PASOK finance minister Dimitris Tsovolas' civil rights and the dismissal of the sentence imposed on him will be effected as soon as possible, thus paving the way for Mr Tsovolas' participation in the government. The cabinet will hold its first meeting at 1 PM, immediately after the new ministers are sworn in, it added. Socialist leader Andreas Papandreou, whose PASOK party won a comfortable majority in Sunday's general elections, was given a mandate to form a government by President Constantine Karamanlis yesterday. Mr Papandreou said his new cabinet would be sworn in today, and informed sources said he would make his policy statement in Parliament on October 25. Washington, 13/10/93 (ANA - D. Dimas) - "We congratulate Mr Papandreou on his election victory and look forward to establishing a co-operative working relationship with his government", US State Department Spokesman Michael McCurry told the press in Washington yesterday. Mr McCurry added he had not yet been briefed on President Clinton's invitation to Mr Papandreou. Diplomatic sources were quoted as saying that Mr Papandreou's visit to the US would be the object of diplomatic deliberations in the immediate future. Meanwhile, political circles said the speed of President Clinton's message to Mr Papandreou was "impressive", considering Monday was a US holiday. Athens, 13/10/93 (ANA) - Heads of state and government, Church and party leaders from all over the world have sent Andreas Papandreou messages of congratulations on PASOK's election victory. They include Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Vartholomeos of Constantinople, Patriarch Parthenios of Alexandria, French President Francois Mitterrand, the president of the French Socialist International Pierre Mauroy, the president of the Social Democratic Party of Germany, Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic and the leader of Bosnia Serbs, Radovan Karadzic. Tirana, 13/10/93 (ANA - K. Liatis) - In a message congratulating PASOK on its election victory, Albanian Socialist Party leader Fatos Nano said PASOK's victory had particular significance for the situation prevailing in the troubled Balkan region. Mr Nano expressed hope for an improvement in Greek-Albanian relations which, he said, have been frozen due to the implementation of an unrealistic and unstable policy both by the Albanian and the outgoing Greek government. The newspaper Zeri Populit devoted a whole page yesterday to PASOK's election victory, also covered by other newspapers such as Koha Jona and Aleanza, which all expressed the desire for a speedy improvement in Greek-Albanian relations. The first to hail PASOK's election victory was Democratic Party President Eduard Selami who said he looked forward to co-operation between his party and PASOK. Athens, 13/10/93 (ANA) - Government ministers to be sworn today: -Prime Minister: Andreas Papandreou, Minister to the Prime Minister's Office: Anastasios Peponis, Under-secretary and government Spokesman: Evangelos Venizelos, Under-secretary: Telemahos Hytiris, National Defence Minister: Gerasimos Arsenis, Under-secretary: Nikolaos Kouris, Foreign Affairs Minister: Karolos Papoulias, Alternate: Theodoros Pangalos, Under-secretary: George Papandreou, Interior Minister: Apostolos (Akis) Tsohatzopoulos, Under-secretary: George Daskalakis, National Economy Minister: George Yennimatas, Alternate: Yiannos Papantoniou, Under-secretary: George Romaios, Finance Minister: George Yennimatas, Under-secretaries: Dimitris Georgakoupoulos, Alexandros Papadopoulos, Agriculture Minister: George Moraitis, Under-secretary: Floros Constantinou, Labour Minister: Evangelos Yiannopoulos, Under-secretary: Antonis Kotsakas, Health, Welfare and Social Security Minister: Dimitris Kremastinos, Under-secretaries: Emmanuel Skoulakis, Foevos Ioannides, Justice Minister: George Kouvelakis, Education and Religious Affairs Minister: Dimitris Fatouros, Under-secretaries: Ioannis Anthopoulos, Eleni Stephanou Culture Minister: Amalia Maria (Melina) Mercouri, Alternate: Athanasios (Thanos) Mikroutsicos, Under-secretary: George Lianis, Merchant Marine Minister: George Katsifaras, Public Order Minister: Stelios Papathemelis, Under-secretary: Constantine Geitonas, Macedonia-Trhace Minister: Constantine Triarides, Aegean Minister: Constantine Skandalides, Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister: Costas Laliotis, Alternate: Ioannis Souladakis, Under-secretary: Elizabeth Papazoi, Industrial, Energy and Technology Minister: Constantine Simitis, Under-secretary: Christos Pahtas, Commerce Minister: Constantine Simitis, Under-secretary: Alexandros Baltas, Transport and Communications Minister: Ioannis Haralambous, Under-secretary: Athanasios Tsouras, Deputy Minister to the Prime Minster: Ioannis Livanis. Istanbul, 13/10/93 (ANA - A. Kourkoulas) - Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Murat Karayalcin, leader of the Social Democrat Populist Party (SHP), said yesterday that PASOK's Sunday election win was "a victory for the social democrats in our neighbouring country". "I hope there is no problem in relations with Turkey now. Ties between the two social democrat parties, PASOK and SHP, can contribute to better relations between the two countries", Mr Karayalcin said. Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hikmet Cetin, who is also a member of the SHP, said: "Turkey has no prejudices concerning the new government's policy. We hope the good dialogue inaugurated between the two countries during the Constantine Mitsotakis administration will continue during the Andreas Papandreou administration". Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Ferhat Ataman said "we congratulate Mr Papandreou on PASOK's majority", adding that "after the elections held in Greece we wish to continue our dialogue with the new Greek government and improve relations between our countries". "We believe that friendly relations based on mutual esteem and confidence will be to the benefit of both countries", Mr Ataman said, adding that "we also extend our best wishes to Mr Mitsotakis who made a personal effort to improve Greek-Turkish relations during his premiership". "We believe that all problems between the two countries can be resolved with a constructive dialogue which will be to the benefit of the two peoples", Mr Ataman said. Nicosia, 13/10/93 (ANA - G. Leonidas) - Defence Minister Costas Eliades will fly to Athens soon for a protocol visit, acting government spokesman Spyros Arotis said yesterday. Mr Arotis said it was customary for defence minister to visit his counterpart when a new government takes office in Greece to discuss issues related to Cyprus' defence. Mr Eliades will be escorted by the armed forces' leadership. Athens, 13/10/93 (ANA) - Outgoing Prime Minister Constantine Mitsotakis said yesterday he would not contest his conservative party's leadership at an upcoming electoral assembly to elect a new leader. "New Democracy will have a new leader as I have repeatedly stated in the past. I will remain politically active and a militant deputy of the party", Mr Mitsotakis told a press conference. After his defeat in last Sunday's elections, Mr Mitsotakis said he would resign his seat as head of the conservative New Democracy party and initiate the procedure for election of a new leader. Mr Mitsotakis said his decision to resign "served the party's interests and those of the nation, which coincide". Referring to the outcome of the elections, Mr Mitsotakis said he did the best he could to win the elections and expressed certainty that the work of his administration would be appreciated by the Greek people in the future. "I did the best I could. New Democracy carried out a significant task, put the country on the path of economic recovery and laid the foundations for the country's future development. I am certain that in the future this will be appreciated by the Greek people", Mr Mitsotakis said. Mr Mitsotakis did not say when the electoral assembly would convene to vote for its new leader, but party sources said the election would take place by the end of the month. The same sources said there were four candidates so far: Miltiades Evert, former minister to the prime minister's office; Ioannis Varvitsiotis, former national defence minister; George Souflias, former education minister; and Ioannis Kefaloyannis, former interior minister. The new party chief will be elected by 65 New Democracy electors in addition to the 110 deputies voted into parliament in last Sunday's election. The party's charter says candidates can enter the race at any time provided they are backed by a minimum of five ND electors. Athens, 13/10/93 (ANA) - The Coalition of the left and Progress's Political Secretariat will unanimously propose to the party's central political committee at its special meeting on Saturday that the resignation of party leader Maria Damanaki not be accepted until an extraordinary meeting is convened. The central committee will set the party's course up to the elections for the European parliament when, it was stressed in an announcement, the Coalition should regain its lost ground. Ms Damanaki tendered her resignation on Monday morning after the Coalition failed to achieve the minimum three per cent national vote required for representation in parliament. Athens, 13/10/93 (ANA) - The Interior Ministry yesterday released the final results of Sunday's elections that brought the socialists back to power after three and a half years in opposition. The Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) won 46.88 per cent of the vote, securing 171 seats in Greece's 300-member parliament. The New Democracy party garnered 39.30 per cent of the vote and 110 seats in parliament. The Coalition of the Left and Progress suffered the greatest blow, collecting 2.94 per cent of the vote, 0.06 per cent shy of the required minimum for a party to gain representation in parliament. The Communist Party of Greece made a strong showing, winning 4.54 per cent and nine seats in parliament and the newly-formed Political Spring party collected 4.87 per cent, security 10 seats in parliament. Interior ministry sources said 78.23 per cent of Greece's 8,798,258 registered voters took part in the elections. There were 30,403 abstentions in 6,899, 629 valid votes.