Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07ATHENS1971
2007-10-02 04:41:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Athens
Cable title:  

ND'S NARROW MANDATE ON DISPLAY AS NEW PARLIAMENT

Tags:  PREL PGOV GR 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO3881
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHTH #1971 2750441
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 020441Z OCT 07 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0420
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 001971 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV GR
SUBJECT: ND'S NARROW MANDATE ON DISPLAY AS NEW PARLIAMENT
BEGINS DEBATE


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBIN QUINVILLE. REASON: 1.4 (B) A
ND (D).

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 001971

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV GR
SUBJECT: ND'S NARROW MANDATE ON DISPLAY AS NEW PARLIAMENT
BEGINS DEBATE


Classified By: POLITICAL COUNSELOR ROBIN QUINVILLE. REASON: 1.4 (B) A
ND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: PM Karamanlis kicked off the first session
of the new Parliament with a statement emphasizing the need
for continued reform, his campaign theme. It immediately
became the target for the other parliamentary parties (now
four) in a three-day debate. Foreign policy played only a
minor role, with both PM Karamanlis and FM Bakoyiannis
underscoring the ND government's determination to take a
strong stance on the Macedonia name issue. In his first
parliamentary statement, far-right LAOS leader Karatzaferis
declared that he was "as much against the government as
PASOK." Bad news for PM Karamanlis, who won the traditional
vote of confidence which followed with exactly 152 votes --
ND's narrow majority. END SUMMARY.

A WORKING WEEKEND


2. (C) Not surprisingly, Karamanlis's statement emphasized
his campaign's theme: the need to continue reform
initiatives, including reform of the social security system.
Karamanlis claimed that the steady improvement of the economy
and a package of measures to finance the pension system were
key; he did not foresee the need to increase retirement age
limits or impose higher taxes. He called for implementation,
at the beginnig of 2009, of a plan for a minimum national
pnsion. Other goals included reconstruction of reas
destroyed by wildfires, increased transprency, media
licensing, and combating corrupton.


3. (C) Most telling, though, was Karamanlis's call to
change the electoral law. The September election was
conducted according to PASOK-authored legislation; ND
believes that its provisions negatively impacted their
parliamentary majority. Karamanlis can expect opposition not
only from PASOK, but from the smaller parliamentary parties.
While some might see his proposal as post-election pique,
Karamanlis is actually focused on the long term. Any change
now would not take effect in the next election, but the one
after that. And -- with some predicting Karamanlis will call
snap elections within 20 months to increase his majority --
changing the law now could help ND in an election just a few
years down the road.

MACEDONIA NAME ISSUE


4. (C) As in the elections, foreign policy received little
attention in the weekend debate. On Macedonia, Karamanlis
stressed that his government made clear to "neighboring
Skopje" that if it really wished to join Euro-Atlantic
institutions, it must respect "to the fullest" the Interim
Accord and "abandon intransigence" so that a mutually
acceptable solution to the name issue could be found. FM
Bakoyiannis elaborated, arguing that "Skopje's actions and
omissions, the intransigence and the extensive irredentist
propaganda and every type of provocation undermine the spirit
and the letter of the interim agreement and it is not
possible to invoke only certain points . . . this is why
Greece maintains to the fullest all the rights which derive
from its capacity as a member of NATO and of the EU."
Bakoyiannis emphasized the GOG's view that the goal of the
1995 Interim Agreement was to find a mutually acceptable
solution, not to simply keep the question pending.

SOCIALIST PASOK FIGHTS BACK, BUT RIGHT-WING LAOS LOOKS FEISTY



5. (C) Beleaguered opposition leader (and former FM)
Papandreou also spent little time on foreign policy issues,
attacking the government for "losing historic opportunities"
to promote the national interest. He hammered ND's economic
policy, accusing it of having a "secret agenda" to increase
taxes. He challenged to government's ability to help restore
fire-damaged regions, and criticized its plans to sell off
the public power corporation and Olympic Airlines "at bargain
basement prices."


6. (C) The three-day debate marked nationalist LAOS's first
parliamentary appearance. Party leader George Karatzaferis
promised to clobber "thieves" in his future addresses and to
oppose "censorship" -- which most interpret as a veiled
threat to the House Speaker not to try to restrain him.
Karatzaferis also rejected accusations that his party falls
on the political right-wing, declaring that he is "as much
against the government as PASOK."

COUNTRYMAN