Athens News Agency: News in English, 05-06-12

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

CONTENTS

[01] Parliament gives vote of confidence to Premier Karamanlis' government

[01] Parliament gives vote of confidence to Premier Karamanlis' government

From the 285 deputies present, 165 deputies voted for, 120 against. The twelve Communist Party (KKE) deputies were absent from the vote.

The three-day debate in the 300-member House commenced on Friday following a call for the vote earlier last week by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis in response to a call by main opposition PASOK leader George Papandreou for a motion of censure against National Economy and Finance minister George Alogoskoufis.

Closing the three-day debate in Parliament late on Sunday night, Premier Karamanlis said that his government wants and can change the country.

"We want and can change the country," he said, adding that he considered the vote of confidence as a vote of confidence in the policy of reformrs that his government put on track.

"From the three-day debate we come out stronger in order to serve the citizens and the interests of the country," he said, before adding that the vote of confidence "is an expression of the confidence of the broad social alliance and constitutes a mandate and committment on the part of the government for reforms which are necessary."

"We do not compromise with problems. The citizens demand that we proceed even faster , more strongly and decisively and this is what we are doing," Karamanlis said.

"We want to advance the reforms with the broadest possible concensus, without surprise moves, with realism, wisdom and having always in mind the social results," he pointed out.

"We have held and we are holding a dialogue with the social partners, the changes, the reforms and radical changes in the state are our obligation, they are what we owe to the citizen, they constitute an obligation to the country's present and future. The challenges are great. However, we will win them because the changes we are planning express society, are supported by the citizens and serve the citizens," the premier added.

Karamanlis also answered to accusations by the main opposition PASOK party members, declaring: "You speak as if you discovered Greece today, as if you never heard about the problems of decades, as if Greece did not exist fifteen months ago, as if there was no problem at all before March 7, 2004, neither unemployment, nor a high cost of living, nor debt, as if a government did not even exist," he said.

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