Athens News Agency: News in English, 07-10-01

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

CONTENTS

[01] Gov't earns vote of confidence, PM says positions on nat'l issues 'unshakeable'

[02] Diamantopoulou declines run for PASOK helm

[01] Gov't earns vote of confidence, PM says positions on nat'l issues 'unshakeable'

Concluding a three-day debate on his government's policy statements, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said Sunday night that Greece's foreign policy was based on the "powerful ideas of peace, stability, international cooperation", that his government's positions on national issues "are known to all" and that these positions "are unshakeable, they are not to be abandoned and they are not to be violated."

The prime minister said solutions to the country's problems "need concrete proposals" underlining that his government has no intention of "cooperating with attempts aiming at polarisation and tension."

Demanding the legislature's vote of confidence for the promotions of "changes and reforms the country needs," Karamanlis said these changes �are not simply options, but a vital need expressed by the whole of society."

"All Greeks, regardless of what one votes for, we want a Greece which is daring, changing and progressing...We want a Greece with a strong economy, with a modern and effective state," he said.

Responding to the opposition's criticism, Karamanlis said that he "understands very well the expediencies of some exaggerations. I understand that some want to forget that they had government responsibilities, I understand their need to escape from their government's past and that of their party."

The prime minister reiterated his government's intention not to "cooperate with attempts aiming at polarisation and tension."

"Nobody can baptise as 'progress' the sterile negation to every change, to every reform. The 'no' to every change being promoted does not constitute a 'progressive' option, it is an expression of a very strong conservatism," Karamanlis concluded.

Caption: PM Costas Karamanlis in Parliament on Sunday, Sept. 30, 2007. ANA-MPA

[02] Diamantopoulou declines run for PASOK helm

As the reason for her decision, she cited the "intensely bitter climate" that has emerged within the party in the wake of its election defeat on September 16, which she said was even threatening PASOK's unity:

"On the day after, I want to fight for the rebirth of PASOK. For a radical PASOK, a PASOK for victory. For this reason, I will not be a candidate," Diamantopoulou said.

In her statement, she also mentioned that this was the first time in the 33 years of PASOK's existence that "even the phantasm of break up is hovering over the party"

She said the socialist party was in the grip of "polarisation and a sterile confrontation" that did not allow for a true exchange of ideas and positions regarding the changes and reforms for Greek society, and left no room for overcoming the "generalised and self-evident".

She also noted that this had led to a "climate of introversion and pessimism" that was based on "behaviour that does not befit a historic government party".

"This does not express me. I want to contribute to politics with solutions and not with the problem," Diamantopoulou added, saying that she would work for PASOK's unity because this was the crucial issue at this time.

Caption: Diamantopoulou appears at a press conference in Athens on Monday, Oct. 1, 2007. ANA-MPA / STR

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