Macedonian Press Agency: News in English, 04-03-09

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

CONTENTS

[01] NEW GOVERNMENT TODAY

[02] DEPUTY MINISTERS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT

[03] DISCUSSIONS WITH NICOSIA

[04] EARTHQUAKE OF 3.7 ON THE RICHTER SCALE HIT SERRES

[05] LOSSES IN THE ASE

[06] THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW DEMOCRACY GOVERNMENT

[07] THE PRIORITIES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT

[01] NEW GOVERNMENT TODAY

His government, which according to his pre-election statements would be flexible and functional, will be announced at 12 noon today by assignee Prime Minister of Greece, Costas Karamanlis. Mr.Karamanlis' government will be sworn in tomorrow and the new Ministers will then receive the Ministries from their predecessors, who received orders from Mr. Simitis to remain in their positions and turn them over to their replacements. According to the final results, ND, which won with a difference of slightly less than 5%, will have a comfortable majority in Parliament with 165 seats.

[02] DEPUTY MINISTERS OUTSIDE PARLIAMENT

Two active Ministers and 9 Deputy Ministers of the Simitis government failed to be reelected in Sunday's elections. Minister of the Aegean N. Sifounakis lost his seat due to the rounding down, while Minister of Agriculture G. Drys lost his position to Angela Gerekou. Among the Deputy Ministers not to be reelected are N. Farmakis (Finance), N. Gesoulis (Education), N. Bistis (Interior), N. Thomas (Education), V. Kontogiannopoulo (Health), Al. Boulgaris (Environment, Planning & Public Works), P. Photiadis (Finance) and F. Chatzimichalis (Agriculture) if Mr. Papandreou keeps the Larissa seat.

[03] DISCUSSIONS WITH NICOSIA

Cypriot President Tassos Papadopoulos will visit Athens this Friday in order to hold talks with Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. The Cypriot President appeared to certain of the support of the Greek government in this crucial phase of the negotiations on the Cyprus issue. Information mentioned that Mr. Karamanlis had been briefed fully regarding the latest discussions on the Cyprus issue at the UN's seat in New York.

[04] EARTHQUAKE OF 3.7 ON THE RICHTER SCALE HIT SERRES

An earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale was recorded this morning in the region of Rodolivous, Serres northern Greece, causing alarm to the local population.

According to Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Geophysics Laboratory the weak tremor was recorded at 9:24am and its epicenter was located 92 kilometers northeast of Thessaloniki.

The earthquake was felt across the prefecture of Serres and in neighboring prefectures. According to statements made to MPA by seismologist Vasilis Karakostas, it is an isolated phenomenon in a region with low seismic activity.

[05] LOSSES IN THE ASE

Losses were recorded in the Athens Stock Exchange today. The general index dropped to -0.92% at 2481.08 points, while the volume of transactions was at 151.7 million euros.

Of the stocks trading today, only 40 had gains and 268 had losses, while the value of 83 stocks remained unchanged.

[06] THE MEMBERS OF THE NEW DEMOCRACY GOVERNMENT

The members of the new government of Greece were announced today and the swearing-in ceremony will take place tomorrow morning. Afterwards, Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kostas Karamanlis will meet with outgoing Prime Minister Kostas Simitis.

The new cabinet will meet for the first time at 12:30pm tomorrow and then the Prime Minister will make statements to the press.

As it was announced, Stavros Dimas will take over the post of the Greek Commissioner in the EU, while Anna Psarouda Benaki will be proposed by New Democracy to the Parliament for the post of the Parliament President.

According to statements made by Thodoris Rousopoulos, a Ministry of Tourism will be created, while the Ministry of Labor and Social Security will be renamed to Ministry of Employment and Social Protection, the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be renamed to Ministry of Health and Social Solidarity and the Ministry of Agriculture will be renamed to Ministry of Agricultural Development and Food.

The Ministry of Press and Mass Media is being abolished, its area of responsibility will be under the Prime Minister and the Minister of State will exercise the relevant authority.

The members of the new government are:

Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis

Minister of Economy and Finance Georgios Alogoskoufis

Deputy Ministers: Christos Folias, Petros Doukas and Adam Regouzas

Minister of Foreign Affairs Petros Moliviatis

Deputy Ministers: Takis Skandalakis, Yiannis Valinakis and Evripidis Stilianidis

Minister of National Defense Spilios Spiliotopoulos

Deputy Ministers: Vasilis Michaloliakos and Yiannis Lambropoulos

Minister of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralization Prokopis Pavlopoulos

Deputy Ministers: Thanasis Nakos and Apostolos Andreoulakos

Minister of Development Dimitris Sioufas

Deputy Ministers: Giorgos Salagoudis and Yiannis Papathanasiou

Minister of Environment, Land Planning and Public Works Giorgos Souflias

Deputy Ministers: Stavros Kaloyiannis and Themistoklis Xanthopoulos

Minister of Education and Religion Marietta Giannakou

Deputy Ministers: Giorgos Kalos and Spiros Taliadouros

Ministry of Employment and Social Protection Panos Panagiotopoulos

Deputy Ministers: Gerasimos Giakoumatos and Nikos Angelopoulos

Minister of Health and Social Solidarity Nikitas Kaklamanis

Deputy Ministers: Thanasis Giannopoulos and Giorgos Konstantopoulos

Minister of Agricultural Development and Food Savvas Tsitouridis

Deputy Ministers: Alexandros Kontos and Evangelos Basiakos

Minister of Justice Anastasios Papaligouras

Minister of Culture Kostas Karamanlis

Alternate Minister Fani Palli Petralia

Deputy Ministers: Petros Tatoulis, Giorgos Orphanos (responsible for sports issues)

Minister of Transportation and Communications Michalis Liapis

Deputy Minister Tasos Nerantzis

Minister of Public Order Giorgos Voulgarakis

Minister of Merchant Marine Manolis Kefalogiannis

Minister of Macedonia-Thrace Nikos Tsiartsionis

Minister of Tourism Dimitris Avramopoulos

Deputy Minister Anastasios Liaskos

Minister of Aegean and Island Policy Aristotelis Pavlidis

Minister of State and Government Spokesman Thodoris Rousopoulos

[07] THE PRIORITIES OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT

Speeding up Greece's preparations for the Olympics, the Cyprus issue and the economy are the immediate priorities for the first days of the new Karamanlis government, while the governing sectors to be focused on most are daily life, culture and public administration. The President of the IOC Jacques Rogge, is expected in Athens on Saturday in order to meet with the Prime Minister and relevant Ministers and the rate of completion of the works is expected to be accelerated.

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