Selection: Michalis Katsigeras

FIRST EDA CONGRESS: As the First Panhellenic Congress of the United Democratic Left (EDA) entered its third day yesterday, Mr Ioannis Pasalidis was unanimously elected the party president. Parliamentary Deputy Ilias Iliou spoke on the “economic problems faced by the people of Greece and the struggles to resolve them.” Among other things, Mr Iliou emphasized the need to reduce the large expenditure on the military, since these days the mood is one of peaceful coexistence and Greece has to be able to benefit from the economic aid offered by the Soviet Union, without conditions. Then, following a speech by Mr Manolis Glezos, EDA’s new charter was passed. During yesterday’s session, a political resolution was approved along with a message to the Cypriot people struggling for their freedom. EDA’s general advisers Mr D. Margiolis and Mr K. Skarmoutsos, as well as members of EDA’s Central Committee, protested at their exclusion from the party congress and asked that EDA not become a unified party but remain an alliance of left-wing parties.