Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-02-08

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article

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

CONTENTS

[01] Karolos Papoulias officially elected 6th President of the Hellenic Republic

[02] Karamanlis: 'Transparency everywhere, zero tolerance to vested interests and corruption'

[03] No change to position on ratification of Euro-Constitution, gov't stresses

[01] Karolos Papoulias officially elected 6th President of the Hellenic Republic

Specifically, 163 New Democracy MPs, 114 PASOK MPs and two independent MPs (Stelios Papathemelis and Stephanos Manos) voted for Papoulias. Out of the 300-member chamber, 296 MPs voted, while four were absent. Those absent were ND MP Ilhan Ahmet who is on official mission abroad; PASOK MP Kostas Tsimas who is ill; KKE MP Antonis Skyllakos who was absent also due to illness, and independent MP Andreas Andrianopoulos.

Ahmet and Tsimas sent letters saying that had they been present they would have voted for Papoulias.

Seventeen MPs, 11 from the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and six from the Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (SYN) party, declared themselves 'present.'

After the voting, Parliament President Anna Psarouda-Benaki went to Papoulias' office to officially inform him of the outcome.

It is the first time that a candidate for the presidency is elected with a total of 279 votes. Until now, outgoing President Kostis Stephanopoulos had received the most votes (269 votes) on his re-election on Feb. 8, 2000 out of 298 MPs present. Stephanopoulos' second five-year term concludes on March 11, 2005.

Papoulias will be the sixth President of the Republic since the restoration of democracy in Greece in 1974, following Mihalis Stasinopoulos, Constantine Tsatsos, Constantine Karamanlis, Christos Sartzetakis and Stephanopoulos.

[02] Karamanlis: 'Transparency everywhere, zero tolerance to vested interests and corruption'

Karamanlis told deputies of his ruling New Democracy party that the recent revelations and disclosures have "cast a shadow on the highest institutions of democracy and Greek society, uncovering corruption with deep roots in the past."

A trial- and parole-fixing syndicate allegedly comprised of several judges, trial lawyers, court officials and even a high-ranking controversial cleric first exploded onto the national spotlight following an expose by a noted TV investigative journalist. Press focus on the cleric, Ioakovos Yiosakis, subsequently generated a whirlwind of allegations - corruption, misappropriation of funds, influence-peddling and even licentiousness -- against a handful of top ecclesiastical leaders.

Karamanlis, who assumed the premiership after a convincing election victory last March on a platform that prominently featured ND's intention to fight corruption, graft and vested interests, warned that citizens are demanding an absolute end to "unlawful situations and phenomena of corruption".

In touching on allegations that have stunned the powerful Autocephalous Orthodox Church of Greece, Karamanlis emphasized that his government will "applaud every effort by the Church to set its house in order."

In terms of the unprecedented corruption probe in the justice system, Karamanlis said the government will encourage every effort at reform in the independent judiciary as well as a strengthening of the institution's self-regulation and self-protection.

Moreover, he said the government is determined to proceed regardless of the political cost.

[03] No change to position on ratification of Euro-Constitution, gov't stresses

The ratification process will soon be beginning in Parliament, Antonaros added.

Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article