Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-03-08

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

CONTENTS

[01] KARAMANLIS-STEFANOPOULOS MEETING

[02] ND SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE PARTY'S VICTORY

[03] ERDOGAN IN ATHENS

[04] WE LEARN LESSONS FROM OUR DEFEAT

[05] CERTAINTY OF CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

[06] KARAMANLIS YOUNGEST GREEK PRIME MINISTER

[07] EXTENSIVE COVERAGE TO THE GREEK PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS BY THE

[08] GAINS IN THE ASE

[09] THE IMMEDIATE PRIORITIES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT

[10] BIG NAMES ARE NOT ELECTED TO PARLIAMENT

[11] KARAMANLIS RECEIVES ORDER TO FORM GOVERNMENT

[12] ERDOGAN READY TO COOPERATE

[01] 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.

[02] ND SUPPORTERS CELEBRATE PARTY'S VICTORY

Thousands of ND supporters flooded the streets of Athens, Thessaloniki and other cities throughout Greece holding Greek flags and flags with their party's emblem, in order to celebrate their party's victory with slogans, horns, and fireworks.

[03] 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.

[04] WE LEARN LESSONS FROM OUR DEFEAT

We will not hesitate to recognize reality and we will not fail to learn the lessons therein to the last paragraph, stated the departing Minister of Culture Evaggelos Venizelos, after the announcement of the exit polls. He stressed that it is a major, clear victory for ND, and correspondingly a major, clear defeat for PASOK.

[05] CERTAINTY OF CYPRIOT PRESIDENT

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 discussions 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.

[06] 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, Costas 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 Party 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 development 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.

[07] 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 Kostas 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 community 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 allies.

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 Socialist 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.

[08] 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.

[09] 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 government 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 for 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.

[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, Panagiotis 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] 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 the 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.

[12] ERDOGAN READY TO COOPERATE

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 cooperate 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 Mediterranean 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 Cypriots 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 question 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 good 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 roots 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 countries 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.

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