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Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-02-17Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] PM Karamanlis confers with FinMin AlogoskoufisPrime Minister Costas Karamanlis conferred with National Economy and Finance Minister George Alogoskoufis on Friday morning, focussing on developments in the economy and the reforms programme. Replying to press questions after the meeting on the prospect of general elections, following a call for early elections on Thursday by main opposition Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) leader George Papandreou, Alogoskoufis said that "the government is at the half-way point of its term in office, it is implementing its reforms programme with great success and a programme that will bring the country out of the economic problems of the past", adding that "the opposition has its own reasons for creating diversions".Alogoskoufis also said that the draft of EU Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia's report on the Greek economy that was made public was "positive", as it did not call for the introduction of additional measures, and only for the implementation of the budget. The report is slated to be discussed next week by the European Commission (at its weekly meeting), and after that by the Council of Ministers. ANA-MPA Copyright © 2004-2005 All rights reserved. [02] PM has first meeting with new DM MeimarakisPrime Minister Costas Karamanlis on Friday had a meeting with his government's new defence minister and the former secretary of New Democracy's Central Committee Evangelos Meimarakis, during which they chiefly discussed the process for the election of a new ND Central Committee secretary to replace the latter. Meimarakis will be quitting the post after he was appointed defence minister in a government reshuffle on Tuesday.After the meeting, the defence minister said he had recommended that the premier convene the party's Central Committee to elect a new secretary next Friday. He stressed that this would be a democratic process that would be stimulating for ND, since it did not lead to introspection but allowed healthy political competition. Meimarakis said they had also discussed issues relating to the defence ministry and that there would soon be a meeting of the Government Council of Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA) to discuss defence-related matters. ANA-MPA Copyright © 2004-2005 All rights reserved. [03] Gov't responds to questions on phone tappingJustice Minister Anastasis Papaligouras on Friday again called for political forces to allow the independent judiciary to investigate the unprecedented mobile phone-tapping case without hindrance, in response to a couple of tabled questions in Parliament by the opposition. Papaligouras' statement came in reply to a tabled question on the matter by former PASOK minister Miltiades Papaioannou and one-time Coalition of the Left leader Nikos Constantopoulos.The minister noted that the government has revealed all that it knows concerning the case -- which involved the bugging of one of the prime minister's mobile phones, among others -- whereas the judiciary is now entrusted with getting to the bottom of the affair. More than 100 mobile phone numbers, all belonging to the Vodafone network, were systematically monitored by unknown persons for roughly a year up until early March 2005. Besides one of the many phone mobile phone numbers reportedly used by the prime minister, a bevy of ministers, top military and police officers as well as many other individuals of varied backgrounds had their mobile phone conversations under surveillance. Conversely, Papaligouras said the disabling of "ghost software" within Vodafone's systems by the company's officials days after the eavesdropping was discovered made it more difficult to trace the perpetrators. He also said the suicide of a top Vodafone executive, responsible for the provider's network design and planning division, is being thoroughly re-investigated. On his part, Papaioannou spoke of a "conscientious absence of the prime minister", while charging that the latter has avoided being present in Parliament for any of 30 recent tabled questions by PASOK in Parliament. Constantopoulos, meanwhile, called the case the "most serious instance of espionage against the country", while calling on the government to give up the "big brother by name". He also said that Vodafone's top executives should be investigated for complicity in the affair. In a related development, government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos merely noted during a same-day press conference that the government will wait for results of the judicial probe. ANA-MPA Copyright © 2004-2005 All rights reserved. [04] ADEDY urges dialogue on pension systemThe Civil Servants Supreme Administrative Council (ADEDY) on Friday urged for the beginning of an open dialogue over the country's pension system for the government, political parties and trade unions to clearly present their proposals on the issue. Speaking to reporters, ADEDY President Spyros Papaspyros said "interventions in the social insurance system so far were either autocratic or had the element of surprise, thus undermining confidence and efforts to promote cooperation".Papaspyros stressed that ADEDY would finalise its decisions for strike mobilisations in the first half of March during a meeting with all federations to be held February 22. ANA-MPA Copyright © 2004-2005 All rights reserved. Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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