Greek premier seeks fresh mandate

Date: 05/09/1996

By Elizabeth Wise

IT HAS been a traumatic year for the Greeks. After burying a premier and warding off Turkish battleships, they are now being sent to the polls in a snap election.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis has called the election for 22 September, a year ahead of schedule and only nine months after becoming premier.

Greece's limping economy and galloping tension with Turkey are putting pressure on the Simitis government. He wants to hold the vote now while his approval ratings are still high, in order to win the public mandate he needs to push through painful economic policies designed to prepare Greece for economic and monetary union.

Simitis has also said he wants to avoid what would have been a long pre-election season - if the vote were held as foreseen in October 1997 - which he believes would be damaging for the country. A low-key campaign, he has said, would be more constructive than the traditional mud-slinging.

However, many Greeks are disappointed by Simitis' campaigning style which, after the flamboyant Andreas Papandreou, appears dull and flat.

But even though memories of Papandreou, who died in June, are still fresh, Simitis is sticking to basics and promising no miracles.

His primary pledge is to get the country ready to join its EU partners in their single currency project.

The premier will outline his government's economic programme this Saturday (7 September) at the start of an international trade fair in Salonika. Then, travelling around Greece by bus, Simitis and Socialist Party (PASOK) deputies will spread the message to the electorate.

In Bill Clinton-like language, Simitis said: “The victory express with the message of hope will tour the country.”

The only rally the premier has allowed will take place in Athens on 20 September, just two days before polling.

Sixty-year-old Simitis is one of the nation's most popular politicians. Recent polls put him ahead of his conservative opponent, New Democracy (ND) leader Miltiadis Evert. The ND party is losing support among the Greek business community, with traditional ND voters now turning to PASOK.

Simitis' election in June to the PASOK party leadership has given him added strength, which he will need to use to the full as he tries to bring the Greek budget deficit down from 8&percent; of Gross Domestic Product to just 3&percent;, and reduce inflation from the current 8.6&percent; to 3&percent;. Simitis and Finance Minister Alexandros Papadopoulos are currently putting the finishing touches to a 1997 budget which contains about one billion ecu of cuts in state spending and public restructuring.

Papadopoulos has warned that Greece is still a long way from being ready for EMU if it becomes a reality in January 1999, as planned. Chief among Greece's problems is its massive public debt - about 100&percent; of GDP - which must be brought down towards the EMU target of 60&percent;.

Simitis has pledged not only deep spending cuts but also a war against tax evaders and far-reaching reforms in the public sector to help achieve this goal.

Whether or not that plays well with voters, Simitis has another pressing problem - tension with Turkey.

Disputes with Ankara over the ownership of two islands in the Aegean Sea have soured relations, which were already bad, for most of this year. Tension has been exacerbated by the killings in July of two Greek Cypriots in what has been described as the most serious inter-communal clash since Cyprus was divided in 1974. The two victims tried to cross the dividing line during a motorcyclists' demonstration. After Turkish Cypriots beat one youth to death and a Turkish soldier shot another, Simitis promised military support for Greek Cypriots if they were attacked.

Greece has a three-year-old defence planning pact with Cyprus which, according to Greek Defence Minister Gerassimos Arsenis, “is being implemented at a rapid pace and has already changed the military balances in the wider region”.

Greece may also step up its blockage of EU funds to Turkey. After the bikers' clash, Greek members of the European Parliament threatened to block funding.

In a statement from the Irish presidency, the EU has criticised Turkish troops for “disproportionate use of force” and both troops and Turkish Cypriots for “brutal killings”.

“The recent events have again highlighted the urgent need to intensify efforts to promote a comprehensive settlement in Cyprus,” said the statement.