Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

KARAMANLIS AND THE STATE: The prime minister, Mr Constantine Karamanlis, has been sent the following telegram by the new 14-member board of the Union of Power Producers and Traders of Greece, acting on the instructions of the General Assembly, at which two-thirds of its 260 members were present. «The General Assembly would like to protest against the government's announcements that it will expropriate the property of the provincial electricity companies. (Ed. note: The Karamanlis government had created the public company, the Public Electricity Corporation, for the production, distribution and trade in electric energy throughout the provinces and thereby abolished local private power companies.) We hope that this move is temporary and will not result in decisions which will be harmful to the national economy, the consumer public and state credit. In no democratically governed states are the people condemned without being given the right to defend themselves. We reiterate the hope that you will receive our representatives in order to listen to the views of the sector before reaching your final decision.»