Antenna: News in English (PM), 97-12-24

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From: Antenna Radio <http://www.antenna.gr> - email: antenna@compulink.gr

Last Updated: Wednesday, 24-Dec-97 12:44:07

CONTENTS

[01] PASOK

[02] Burns

[03] Plane crash

[04] Avramopoulos-Papoutsis

[05] Police

[06] Basketball

[01] Pasok

The expulsions also followed several warnings in recent weeks to dissident MPs to tow the line, and stop criticising government policies in public.

At a marathon session of Pasok's executive bureau Monday night, education secretary Gerasimos Arsenis told prime minister Simitis the expulsion of the three MPs is quote "an act that doesn't become you".

Executive bureau member Pantelis Ikonomou called the expulsions a move that will achieve nothing.

Manolis Daskalakis said it was a tactical error, a move that conflicts with attempt to maintain cohesion and with the party's democratic procedures.

And Levteris Veryvakis believes the prime minister made a mountain out of a mole hill in expelling the three MPs, who said their negative vote on parts of the budget was not a vote against the government. Veryvakis thinks the Simitis move amounts to a blow against the parliamentary system and freedom of expression.

Simitis justifies his disciplinary move, arguing that it is unacceptable for party members to go against party policy, especially on a matter as crucial as the budget, which is seen as a vote of confidence in the government.

In recent weeks, Simitis has been irritated by high- profile MPs and even cabinet members who feel free to criticise his policies in public. The vote against the budget was the last straw, and the expulsions are viewed as a message to dissenters to watch their step.

While some in Pasok, like Arsenis, who was upbraided for publicly criticising Simitis's foreign policy a few weeks ago, dislike the expulsion move, other MPs approve of it.

Christos Smirlis calls it an obvious step which should've been taken earlier.

At that executive bureau meeting, and after, the defence minister appeared to distance himself from the prime minister's expulsion decision.

Akis Tsochatzopoulos said the prime minister's decision is quote "exlusively his affair".

During the meeting, Tsochatzopoulos said that some MPs push things beyond the limit, but expulsions don't help solve any problems.

MP Yiannis Kapsis, a dissenter from the government line on foreign policy issues, asked for an emergench meeting of the party's MPs to try to restore calm and cohesion. Otherwise, he warned, the only solution may be to call early national elections.

People in the Simitis camp, like labour minister Miltiades Papaioannou believe that there are groups in the party systematically trying to undermine the gouvernment.

Foreign minister Theodoros Pangalos agrees. He wants the executive bureau reshuffled.

[02] Burns

It was Nicholas Burns' first official meeting with the Greek leader since taking up his new post.

Burns said they had a good discussion, and that he briefed Simitis on President Clinton's recent meeting with Turkish prime minister Mesout Yilmaz in Washington.

In the US right after a falling out with the EU, Yilmaz made a concerted effort to tighten relations with the US. He said Turkey's goal is to strengthen cooperation with the US in the production of military equipment.

After his meeting with Simitis, Burns said the Greek prime minister is working hard toward the goal of integrating Greece into the European currency.

[03] Plane crash

Sources add that the report on the accident that cost up to 72 people their lives has been sent to the prime minister.

Crews spent two-and-a-half days looking for the airliner after it dropped off the radar screens last Wednesday night.

The passenger list shows that 70 people were on board the plane, though other information suggests there were a few more.

The search for the crash victims' bodies continued Turesday. Coroners reported that the remains of two infants on the airliner are still missing.

At a hospital in Thessaloniki, relatives of the crash victims carried out the painful task of identifying their deceased loved ones.

Two villages in the Pieria mountains, where the crash occurred, are in mourning - seven of those who died in the crash are from Aianis and Krokos.

To the threnodic chime of the bells, the entire village of Aianis accompanied five men - the youngest 26 years old - who had perished to their final resting place. One man lost two children on the plane.

In nearby Krokos, it was a similar scene. One man who lost his son collapsed in grief.

[04] Avramopoulos-Papoutsis

Mayor Dimitris Avramopoulos discussed a series of proposals he's making to the European Commission with European Commissioner Christos Papoutsis.

Avramopoulos says the city is interested in tourism not just as a source of profit, but also as a way of projecting the country internationally, and as a way of creating new jobs.

Papoutsis says the mayor and the commission are going to work together on the series of proposals on developing Athens touristically, and in a environmentally-conscious way.

Both men agree that the development programmes should be based on using renewable energy sources.

[05] Police

Motorists will be given road maps to help them get to their destinations easier.

All the maps bear the legend: "Remember, you're at the wheel, and you've got other people's lives in your hands".

Public order minister Giorgos Romeos hopes the maps will help make drivers aware of spots on highways where works are in project, where there are sharp turns, and where the roads are slippery; in other words, where they need to exercise extra care.

Over the two-week holiday period, the traffic police will be fully mobilised to help ensure the traffic flows smoothely outside of Athens.

Their job will be made easier by the weather: clear sunny skies and mild temperatures are predicted for the next several days.

[06] Basketball

And the Olympiakos fans cheered the return of an old face to the line up in that game.

Forward Dimitris Papanikolaou has ended a contract dispute with Olympiakos. The 20-year-old star tried to leave his former team at the end of last season, but the matter ended up in court.

As a result, the explosive, high-flying star has spent this season on the sidelines, prohibited from signing with an Italian team, as he'd planned to do.

But Papanikolaou was back in the familiar Olympiakos red uniform Tuesday - he's let bygones be bygones, and signed a contract with the team that runs until 2002.

(c) ANT1 Radio 1997

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