PM to stress economic goals are on course

As fallout from TV debate assessed, smaller parties seen as winners

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis addresses voters in Kozani, northern Greece, yesterday before heading to Thessaloniki today where he is expected to highlight his government’s economic achievements since taking office in March 2004 and to outline future plans if re-elected.

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis is expected to woo voters in Thessaloniki this evening by underlining the achievements of his government’s economic policy, as the country’s six political parties measure the fallout from Thursday’s highly publicized television debate.

Karamanlis will be in the northern Greek city for the opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) and is expected to tell voters that the conservatives can keep Greece’s economic growth among the highest in the eurozone. Sources said the prime minister will reiterate Greece’s goal to balance its budget by 2010 despite the devastating fires that struck the country this summer, killing 66 people.

According to some estimates, the fires that burnt parts of southern and central Greece will cost the country between 3 to 5 billion euros. The ruling conservatives are trying to counter fears that the cost of the fires could derail the government’s budgetary goals.

Since 2004, when the conservatives took power, the government has cut the deficit from 7.9 percent of GDP to 2.6 percent in 2006.

The severity of the fires is believed to have necessitated changes to Karamanlis’s speech and today he will highlight measures taken in support of fire victims.

Government figures show that some 1,300 homes were partially damaged or completely destroyed by the blazes.

Meanwhile, the six political groups that took part in Thursday’s debate all expressed their satisfaction at the performance of their respective leader.

Press reports, however, claimed that neither Karamanlis nor his socialist opponent George Papandreou managed to tip the scales in their favor.

Instead, smaller parties scored the most points, augmenting their weight as possible powerbrokers if no clear winner emerges on September 16.

Viewers appeared to be largely unimpressed with what was widely seen as a public relations exercise which dodged key political issues. AGB figures showed that 700,000 fewer viewers watched Thursday’s debate, compared to those who tuned in to the corresponding discussion prior to elections in 2004. Just over 3 million people sat through the 145-minute debate, while 4.8 million people watched at least a part.