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19/09/2003

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TOP STORY
A nod and a wink for illegal homes As election draws nearer, up to 300,000 buildings promised public utilities; minister objects The government yesterday unveiled a series of measures effectively legalizing up to 300,000 illegally built homes by allowing them to be connected to public utility networks.

FRONT PAGE NEWS

The Cartoon Of The Day


ICAO deal ‘no concession’

As two PASOK deputies joined MPs from all three opposition parties in demanding a parliamentary briefing on a new accord regulating Aegean civil aviation flight paths, the Foreign Ministry yesterday denied that the deal will allow Turkey's air force greater leeway over the archipelago.

Patriarch on trial over dismissal

ISTANBUL (AP) - Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomaios I, spiritual leader of the world's Orthodox Christians, went on trial yesterday after a Bulgarian church foundation accused him of preventing a Bulgarian priest from conducting services.

Moonshine gang on the rocks

Financial crimes squad and customs officials believe they have broken a criminal gang that smuggled vast quantities of pure alcohol from Bulgaria into Greece for use in adulterating spirits on sale at bars and nightclubs following four arrests this week, authorities said yesterday.

Kidney adverts under scrutiny

A judicial investigation has been ordered into the possibility of an organized human-organ trafficking ring operating in Greece after adverts for the sale of human kidneys were found in Athens and Piraeus hospitals, court sources said yesterday.

Convict cashed in on doctors’ esprit de corps

A convicted con man has been charged with resuming his fraudulent money-spinning schemes from Athens's Korydallos Prison, police said yesterday.

IN BRIEF

Supreme Court prosecutor launches probe into alleged scam : The Supreme Court’s prosecutor yesterday launched an investigation into reports that pirate ambulances have been charging patients at state hospitals hundreds of euros...

Sales have reached 2.2 million euros since launch of 2nd phase on Monday : A total of 2.2 million euros’ worth of tickets for next year’s Olympic Games have been sold since the second phase of ticket sales...

New traffic restrictions from Sunday : New traffic restrictions come into force at the central Athens Ambelokipi junction as of Sunday...

Lindh funeral : Foreign Minister George Papandreou and Alternate Foreign Minister Tassos Yiannitsis are both in Stockholm today to attend the funeral of Swedish Foreign Minister Anna Lindh...

Festival threat : The mayor of Samothrace yesterday threatened to ban an annual dance festival on the northern Aegean island...

Detainee conditions : The Athens office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees yesterday welcomed a recent circular...

Robber’s cache : Police are seeking to determine the owner of a bag of weapons discovered in an uninhabited house in Athens’s central Plaka district...

Religious dialogue : “It is good for the Church to concentrate on its affairs without being influenced by matters of the State,”...

Immigrants : Coast guards on Icaria yesterday detained 47 illegal immigrants...


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A team of five...
EDITORIAL

Perpetual illegality The regulations concerning illegal construction which received cabinet approval yesterday belong among the government's traditional pre-election ploys. Together with handouts and wage hikes, favorable arrangements for illegal buildings have always been part of the government of the day's repertoire. So much so that the minister for the Aegean, Nikos Sifounakis, obviously galled, counted 16 packages of similar measures since 1980.

COMMENTARY

Weighing the electoral law The government's decision to unilaterally pass the new electoral law during the runup to the elections is no boost to our democratic institutions. Such draft bills should be sent to Parliament at a less politically-charged time and through consensus. But matters have taken another course. In essence, however, Interior Minister Costas Skandalidis's proposals are interesting. The possibility of a voter picking a candidate from a party other than the one he voted for merits discussion. So does the introduction of regional deputies elected from a list. But these two clauses have been dropped due to opposition from PASOK MPs. The minister's proposal does not contain anything that was obviously dictated by partisan self-interest.

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