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Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 2004-03-08

Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

From: The Macedonian Press Agency at http://www.mpa.gr and http://www.hri.org/MPA.


MACEDONIAN PRESS AGENCY Thessaloniki, March 8, 2004

SECTIONS

  • [A] NATIONAL NEWS
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • NEWS HEADLINES

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

  • [01] CLEAR VICTORY BY 5%
  • [02] WAITING FOR THE LEADERS' DECISION
  • [03] KARAMANLIS: "ALL TOGETHER FOR A BETTER FUTURE"
  • [04] ERDOGAN IN ATHENS
  • [05] KARAMANLIS: I WILL GIVE ALL MY POWER TO MEET THE PEOPLE'S TRUST
  • [06] KARAMANLIS-STEFANOPOULOS MEETING
  • [07] KARAMANLIS YOUNGEST GREEK PRIME MINISTER
  • [08] ERDOGAN READY TO COOPERATE WITH NEW GREEK GOVERNMENT
  • [09] KARAMANLIS RECEIVES ORDER TO FORM GOVERNMENT
  • [10] BIG NAMES ARE NOT ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT
  • [11] THE IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT
  • [12] GAINS IN THE ASE
  • [13] EXTENSIVE COVERAGE TO THE GREEK PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS BY THE INTERNATIONAL MASS MEDIA
  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • [14] CERTAINTY OF CYPRIOT PRESIDENT FOR THE NEW GREEK GOVERNMENT'S SUPPORT NEWS IN DETAILS

    [A] NATIONAL NEWS

  • [01] CLEAR VICTORY BY 5% A clear victory with a difference of slightly less than 5% was achieved by ND in yesterday's elections. According to the almost final results ND received 45.44% and 165 seats followed by PASOK with 40.74% and 117 seats. The votes for the KKE increased sl ightly with 5.85% and 12 seats, while the Coalition of the Radical Left crossed the 3% threshold with 3.23% and received 3 seats. LAOS with 2.18% and DIKKI with 1.78% remained outside parliament, and as their presidents stated, they are aiming at the Euro elections. Ministers and MPs in the Simitis government did not succeed in being reelected.
  • [02] WAITING FOR THE LEADERS' DECISION Three candidates are waiting for the decision of the political leaders in order to find out if they will be in the next parliament. In ND, which elected 8 MPs in the Thessaloniki I electoral district, Panagiotis Kokoris is 8th and is awaiting Mr. Karaman lis' decision on which seat he will hold. In PASOK, Ms. Eva Kaili, who is in 6th place, is waiting for Mr. Papandreou's decision and in the Coalition Mina Xyrotiri awaits Mr. Constantopoulos' decision.
  • [03] KARAMANLIS: "ALL TOGETHER FOR A BETTER FUTURE" "We are turning a new leaf, creating a better future for all", stated the new Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, from Zappio, stressing that his government will meet the trust and expectations, while he committed to give all his power in response to the trust of the Greek people. Thousands of ND supporters flooded the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki and other Greek cities, celebrating the major victory.
  • [04] ERDOGAN IN ATHENS Prime Minister of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan is preparing for a visit to Athens following the municipal elections in his country (March 28), according to the BBC. Speaking to the Greek service of the BBC, Mr. Erdogan announced his intention of visiting Athens, thus becoming the first Turkish Prime Minister to visit Greece since Turgut Ozal. Mr. Erdogan stated that he is ready to cooperate with the new Greek government.
  • [05] KARAMANLIS: I WILL GIVE ALL MY POWER TO MEET THE PEOPLE'S TRUST A commitment that he would give all his power in order to meet the people's trust, placing his party's program into effect immediately, in which Education and Culture are the first priority, was made by President of New Democracy, Costas Karamanlis, in s tatements he made at the Zappeion Megaron.

    After noting that there were no winners and losers and that Democracy and Greece are the winners, Mr. Karamanlis repeated what he had said before the elections about the unity of the Greek people, saying characteristically, all together, united, we move forward... Together we are turning a new leaf. We are building a better future for everyone".

    Mr. Karamanlis also mentioned his discussion with Giorgos Papandreou and other political leaders earlier, pointing out that he asked them to cooperate "in the struggle for a better tomorrow".

  • [06] KARAMANLIS-STEFANOPOULOS MEETING The order to form a new government will be given to the winner of yesterday's elections, President of ND Costas Karmanlis, who will meet with the President of the Republic Costis Stefanopoulos at 1pm.

    Departing Prime Minister Costas Simitis and President of the Parliament for the past term Apostolos Kaklamanis are meeting with the President of the Republic, to be relieved of their positions.

    Mr. Karamanls may announce the formation of his government today, as he had its basic structure outlined before the elections.

  • [07] KARAMANLIS YOUNGEST GREEK PRIME MINISTER President of New Democracy Costas Karamanlis, following his party's victory in the national elections, is the youngest politician to undertake the governing of Greece, as he is becoming Prime Minister at 48.

    The new Prime Minister, according to ND's secretary of Political Planning Giorgos Souflias, the announcement for the formation of the new government is expected today and Mr. Karamanlis will be sworn in on Tuesday. The outgoing Prime Minister, Mr. Costas

    Simitis, visited President of the Republic Costis Stefanopoulos shortly before noon today, in order to formally submit his resignation.

    The threshold of the presidential mansion will also be crossed by President of the Parliament Apostolos Kaklamanis, in order for him to brief the President of the Republic on the new composition of the Parliament, while at 13:00 the new Prime Minister, C ostas Karamanlis, will receive the order to form a government from the Mr. Stefanopoulos. Clear majority

    New Democracy won the new Parliament with a broad parliamentary majority. According to the data of the Ministry of the Interior, after the counting of 98.31% of all votes, New Democracy concentrated 45.41% followed by PASOK with 40.56%. The Communist Par ty of Greece came in third with 5.87%, while the Coalition of the Radical Left, following a thriller that ran throughout the night, gained access to Parliament with 3.24%.

    LAOS and DIKKI remained outside Parliament, with 2.18% and 1.79% respectively, while all remaining parties received 0.95%.

    According to results so far New Democracy has taken 165 seats in the Parliament, PASOK 117, the KKE 12, and the Coalition 6 seats. The first priorities

    In his message to the Greek people following New Democracy's election, Costas Karamanlis set Education, Culture, and a new financial and agricultural policy as the first priorities of the government, while he stressed that attention will be paid to the d evelopment of the welfare state.

    "The width of the victory also shows the greatness of the responsibility", stated ND Press Spokesperson Thodoris Roussopoulos upon entering ND's offices this morning.

  • [08] ERDOGAN READY TO COOPERATE WITH NEW GREEK GOVERNMENT Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated he was ready to cooperate with the new Greek government aiming at strengthening Greek-Turkish relations. Mr. Erdogan, who is planning a visit to Greece following the local elections in Turkey to be held on March 28, speaking to the Greek service of the BBC and the "Aggelioforos" newspaper, said he hoped that the new Greek government would have the retaining and strengthening of the existing cooperation as a priority. "To that end, we are prepared to coop erate with the new government, just as we did with the previous one", stressed the Turkish Prime Minister.

    Expressing his expectations from the new Greek government on the Cyprus issue, he said: "We want the new government to understand that the positive developments in the Cyprus issue will unfailingly be reflected in the trust and stability in the Mediterra nean and Greek-Turkish relations. Our government is ready to cooperate with the new government in order to contribute to the solution of the Cyprus issue."

    To the question on what Ankara's reaction would be if the Greek Cypriots rejected the Annan proposal in a referendum, he replied that Turkey wants a just and stable solution for Cyprus, which will protect the rights of Turkish Cypriots and if Greek Cypri ots say no to the Annan proposal, then the EU and the other countries of the international community will have to reevaluate their position regarding the so called "TRNC" and lift the embargo that has been enforced on the occupied territories. To the ques tion of what would happen if Denktash says no to the Annan plan, he replied that that is a question for the Turkish Cypriot leader himself. "We hope that the efforts for a just and stable solution for Cyprus will bear positive results by May 1 with the go od will of both sides", stated the Turkish Prime Minister, while he expressed hopes that the Cyprus issue will be resolved in quadrilateral meeting to begin on March 22.

    Regarding the issue of the Aegean, he said: "We do not consider the Aegean a region where there is a conflict of interests between Greece and Turkey. The Aegean is a common sea, which brings our two countries closer together and which strengthens the roo ts of Greek-Turkish friendship. In that light, Turkey honestly wants a just and stable solution, which will stand on the common will of the two sides. We hope that this will be understood by the new Greek government and the discussions will continue from the present point." In response to a question on whether there is an issue in the differences of the Aegean, that is considered more important for Turkey, he mentioned that there is a series of interconnected issues regarding the Aegean between the two co untries and that it would not be right to consider a certain difference more important or a greater emergency. "I would like to underline that Turkey desires a solution that will be supported by the mutual consent of the two sides. Turkey honestly desires

    a solution and we hope that our position will be reciprocated by the new Greek government", stated Mr. Erdogan.

  • [09] KARAMANLIS RECEIVES ORDER TO FORM GOVERNMENT The order to form a government was given to President of New Democracy Costas Karamanlis by President of the Republic Costis Stefanopoulos, during a meeting they had this afternoon in the presidential mansion. Mr. Karamanlis announced that the names of t he members of the new government will be made known tomorrow and that they will be sworn in on Wednesday.

    In a short statement after the meeting, Mr. Karamanlis marked ND's intentions , saying characteristically that "we are starting work immediately, we are looking ahead".

    Earlier, Mr. Stefanopoulos wished Mr. Karamanlis all the best regarding his new duties, and pointed out that it was the Greek people with its vote, that gave the order for the formation of a government. He also briefed the new Prime Minister on a series of issues concerning the presidential decrees on the appointment of the Prime Minister and the members of the new government.

  • [10] BIG NAMES ARE NOT ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT Old parliament deputies and former government ministers, both from New Democracy and PASOK, are not elected to the new Parliament, according to the election results so far. PASOK has suffered most as it is estimated that it will lose 40 parliament seats.

    Based on the results, those not elected with PASOK are Stefanos Manikas, Stefanos Tzoumakas, Vasilis Kontoyiannopoulos, Nikos Bistis, Anastasios Mantelis, Thodoros Tsoukatos, Giorgos Daskalakis, Eleni Anousaki, Lefteris Economou, Lefteris Verivakis, Pana giotis Kritikos, Panagiotis Fotiadis and Nikos Gesoulis.

    In the Ionian Sea island of Corfu, the only parliament seat won by PASOK went to actress Angela Gerekou and as a result, former Minister of Agriculture Giorgos Dris will not be elected to the new parliament.

    The New Democracy parliament candidates who are not elected, based on the results so far, are Alexandros Papadogonas, Sotiris Kouvelas, Maro Kontou and Maria Karra.

  • [11] THE IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT The acceleration of the preparations for the Athens Olympic Games, the Cyprus issue and the economy, are the immediate priorities set by the new Greek government that will be formed by New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis. Also, the sectors of governme nt most emphasized will be everyday life, culture and public administration, according the Athens newspaper "Kathimerini".

    International Olympic Committee, IOC, President Jacques Rogge is expected in Athens on Saturday for contacts with the new Prime Minister and the responsible ministers. No changes are expected in the issues concerning the Olympic Games but the work done f or the completion of the Olympic Games' projects will be accelerated.

    "Athens 2004" Organizing Committee President Mrs. Yianna Angelopoulou-Daskalakis visited the New Democracy central offices in Athens last night to congratulate Kostas Karamanlis for the election victory.

    On Cyprus, the four-party conference aimed at reaching an agreement is imminent and New Democracy had begun preparations since last week in order to deal with the issue.

    Special attention will be given by Mr. Karamanlis to the government ministries responsible for issues of everyday life to make it obvious that there is a real intention to deal with the problems faced by the Greek people.

    At a legislative level, among the first laws that will be passed in the new parliament will be laws against corruption.

  • [12] GAINS IN THE ASE Gains were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today, the first session after the election victory of New Democracy. The general index rose to +0.59% at 2504.09 points, while the volume of transactions was at 191.8 million euros.

    Of the stocks trading today, 161 had gains and 142 had losses, while the value of 89 stocks remained unchanged.

  • [13] EXTENSIVE COVERAGE TO THE GREEK PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS BY THE INTERNATIONAL MASS MEDIA Extensive coverage to New Democracy's victory in the Greek parliamentary elections and the triumphant election to the post of the Prime Minister of its leader Kostas Karamanlis was given by the international mass media with an emphasis to the fact that K ostas Karamanlis will be the youngest Prime Minister in Greece.

    The correspondents of both BBC and Reuters covered with extensive reports the latest political developments in Greece and spoke of "an easy victory for New Democracy that returns to power after 11 years".

    CNN mentioned that the "Conservatives have put an end to the ten-year domination of the Socialists in Greece", pointing out that Mr. Karamanlis will have to face the challenge of the Olympic Games' preparations and the solution of the Cyprus issue.

    According to The London Times, "yesterday's elections signal the collapse of PASOK's old guard and the close friends of the late Andreas Papandreou".

    The newspaper underlines that Kostas Karamanlis will have a tremendous work to do, as apart from the efforts for safe Olympic Games, "Greece's public deficits are rising, unemployment is at 11% and the EU enlargement will lead to the drying out of the co mmunity funds".

    According to the Guardian, the clear majority of New Democracy in the new parliament "allows it to adopt a tough line regarding the preparations for the Olympic Games and the hard negotiations for the reunification of Cyprus". The British newspaper also points out that "the strong, and controlled by the Socialists workers' unions have already made it clear that they will move ahead with strike actions and other disruptive moves".

    The conservatives have ended a decade of socialism in Greece, mentions the Independent, adding that Kostas Karamanlis faces "the dual challenge to speed up the delayed Olympic Games' projects and seal an agreement for the reunification of Cyprus".

    The Financial Times writes that Kostas Karamanlis had maintained relations with the Turkish leadership since his time in the Greek opposition but he will have to persuade the Ankara government that the conservatives will continue the rapprochement policy

    launched by the socialists. The British newspaper points out that the new Prime Minister will have to appoint to the Ministries of Defense and Public Order ministers who will win the trust of the International Olympic Committee and Greece's western allie s.

    Fox News points out that this political development signals the return of New Democracy to power after 11 years, while the new government will have to deal with the massive delays in the Olympic Games preparations. It is also pointed out that, "the Socia list Party of PASOK was punished for the political arrogance it had displayed as a result of its long stay in power since 1981, with the exception of a three-year period".

    The Australian ABC television channel, spoke of a "triumphant victory by New Democracy in yesterday's parliamentary elections" pointing out that the victory of New Democracy was not a surprise.

  • [B] INTERNATIONAL NEWS

  • [14] CERTAINTY OF CYPRIOT PRESIDENT FOR THE NEW GREEK GOVERNMENT'S SUPPORT His certainty of the new Greek government's full support to the struggle of Cypriot Hellenism was expressed by the President of the Cypriot Republic Tassos Papadopoulos, in statements he made upon leaving the presidential mansion on his way to the discus sions on the Cyprus issue, under the auspices of the UN.

    When asked if security issues will be discussed at the meeting today, Mr. Papadopoulos responded that the Greek Cypriot side will aim at expressing its positions on the issue today.


    Macedonian Press Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article
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