GREECE: ND CONGRESS KEEPS 'EM GUESSING ON ELECTIONS

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SUBJECT: GREECE: ND CONGRESS KEEPS 'EM GUESSING ON ELECTIONS



1. (SBU) SUMMARY: A carefully orchestrated seventh New
Democracy party congress ended Sunday without setting a date
for the next elections, though some pundits hinted no later
than November. PM Karamanlis defended his administration's
record and promised to stick to the path of government
reform. Opposition figures decried the comparatively large
spendiQ on the lavish proceedings. END SUMMARY.

ORCHESTRATED UNITY
--------------


2. (SBU) The seventh New Democracy (ND) party congress, which
took place July 6-8, was attended by 4,600 delegates from all
parts of Greece who maintained an atmosphere of carefully
orchestrated party unity. The immediate purpose of the
congress was the election of 150 members for the party's
500-member Central Committee, which will elect a new party
Political Council and endorse the incumbent party secretary
at a later stage.


3. (SBU) Congress atmospherics were calm and delegates and
observers alike spoke of Karamanlis's undisputed control of
the party. The organizing committee carefully directed each
phase, employing state-of-the-art technology reinforced by
digital-age stage management -- including giant flat-panel
displays and stereo surround-sound systems. All this did not
come cheaply, George Karatzaferis, the leader of the small,
ultra-nationalist LAOS party caustically noted on the evening
news. Karatzaferis estimated that money spent for the ND
congress could have bought fifteen new CT scanners for
provincial hospitals, prompting the news anchorman to
chastise him for "populism."

KARAMANLIS DEFINES PRIORITIES
--------------


4. (SBU) PM Karamanlis delivered opening and closing
addresses, emphasizing the record of his administration and
repeatedly assuring his listeners that ND's reform effort
"won't be thrown back" by the opposition. The PM defined
reform priorities as: amending the Constitution, particularly
Article 16, which disallows the operation of private
universities inGreece; the revamping of the social security
system, already a target of EU warnings; completing key
changes in the state-controlled education system; and rapid
implementation of plans to overhaul government bureaucracy.
Karamanlis avoided completely any references to the main
opposition PASOK party and its leader, George Papandreou, but
made several references to the political forces of
"yesterday" that are fighting to keep Greece off the track of
growthrians, and select party faithful an opportunity to
speak on a range of political and ideological questions
which, pundits observed, lie at the heart of the debate about
ND's future direction. While Karamanlis reiterated that ND
was "the party of the (political) Center," other speakers,
including such popular ministers as FM Dora Bakoyannis and
Health Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, suggested the party
aim for a "revolution in values" and "social liberalism."
Former FM Antonis Samaras -- who left ND in 1993 to form his
own, now defunct, party and in the process toppled the ND
administration of PM Mitsotakis -- made an "impressive
comeback," reports said, addressing the congress on the need
to make the Greek middle class the "locomotive" of
development. Overall, pro-ND news stories said, the congress
re-affirmed "the strong bonds" uniting ND leadership and
rank-and-file and demonstrated that the party is "fighting
trim."


5. (SBU) COMMENT: Party congresses in Greece rarely offer
occasion for political leaders to deliver radical initiatives
or other surprises. PM Karamanlis did not digress from this
well-trodden path, limiting himself to a safe recap of
government policies and an optimistic look into the future.
Political correspondents and television pundits, however,
were listening closely to the PM's words in the hope of a
hint about early elections. Karamanlis did not oblige, but
his media listeners nevertheless concluded, after dissecting
his closing remarks, that the elections will come by
November, at the latest.

COUNTRYMAN