OPPOSITION LEADER PAPANDREOU OUSTS (THE WRONG?)

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000347

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/16/2017
TAGS: PREL PGOV GR
SUBJECT: OPPOSITION LEADER PAPANDREOU OUSTS (THE WRONG?)
CRITIC

REF: ATHENS 255

Classified By: AMBASSADOR CHARLES RIES. REASON: 1.4 (B) AND (D).


1. (C) SUMMARY: Just a week after its unifying "no
confidence" motion against the Karamanlis government
(reftel),opposition PASOK is once again roiling with
internal dissention. The cause: statements by shadow FM
Pangalos questioning policy that prohibits police from
entering university campuses without hard-to-get permission
from university officials. Some PASOKis turned on Pangalos,
defending "academic sanctuary." Party leader Papandreou's
response, however, merely emphasized PASOKs internal
divisions; he kept the mercurial Pangalos and booted a
Pangalos critic from the party's ranks. Both governing New
Democracy and the media see this as another sign of
Papandreou's weak hold on the fractious party. Within PASOK,
both pro- and anti-Papandreou factions predict major changes
in the party after elections. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Last week, PASOKis were still applauding opposition
leader George Papandreou's unifying challenge to the
government and decision to oppose current legislation on
education reform -- an issue which had divided the party.
But the flash of unity was broken on Sunday when former FM
(and "Shadow FM") Pangalos publicly questioned long-standing
legal protection of "academic sanctuary," which prohibits
police from pursuing criminal suspects onto university
campuses. On live radio, Pangalos announced it was time that
police were allowed to enter campuses to combat a rampant
anarchist presence and wanton destruction. In doing so, he
echoed views also held by governing New Democracy officials.
He also announced that he would vote for certain for the
ND-proposed educational reforms, despite the official PASOK
position of abstaining from the debate and vote.


3. (C) While Pangalos may merely have been articulating the
frustration felt by many across the political spectrum, his
statement amounted to a reversal of PASOK policy. Veteran
PASOK MP Kimon Koulouris decided that Papandreou's quiet talk
with Pangalos was not enough punishment; he unleashed a
verbal attack on Pangalos that was vitriolic even by Greek
standards. Koulouris claimed Pangalos had insulted former
PASOK leader Andreas Papandreou (George's father). He also
claimed that Pangalos, as FM under Andreas' successor Kostas
Simitis, "shamed" Greece over the Ocalan affair in 1999. In
response, George removed Koulouris, his father's defender,
from PASOK party ranks.


4. (C) COMMENT: As one PASOK MP admitted, no one controls
the senior statesman Pangalos. Papandreou's removal of
Koulouris -- while issuing only a verbal rebuke to Pangalos
-- is a clear admission that he doesn't, either. PASOK
members are privately pressing Papandreou to "keep the house
in order" or risk electoral defeat. With polls giving New
Democracy a two-to-four point lead, negative perceptions of
Papandreou's leadership ability could make the difference.
One PASOK source tells us that the "shadow minister" lineup
(which includes Pangalos) likely does not reflect
Papandreou's real post-election choices -- implying that some
of the "old guard" might be by-passed for a more modern
lineup. That's the optimistic version. Another former PASOK
minister has told us he expects "big changes" after the
elections but adds:"It's going to be messy."


RIES