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After drawing...
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EDITORIAL |
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Provincial gripe
The promise made by Public Works Minister Vasso Papandreou yesterday to the citizens of Thessaloniki, that the construction of the city's metro railway will be funded by the Public Investment Program (PIP), is an apparent attempt by the government to defuse widespread discontent there, ahead of Prime Minister Costas Simitis's visit on the occasion of the opening of the city's International Trade Fair. |
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COMMENTARY |
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Perilous handouts
Greece has clearly entered a pre-election period. Every initiative by the country's political parties is now taken with an eye fixed on the ballot. The Socialist government, in particular, is expected to overwhelm the public with new measures, handouts and promises in an attempt to gloss up its bruised image and create the most conducive possible environment in which to aim for re-election.
As of Tuesday, the government of Costas Simitis will be making a host of announcements that will peak at the International Trade Fair in Thessaloniki early in September. There is nothing strange about any of this, one might well say; we are, after all, in the runup to national elections. The main questions that arise concern the nature and the size of the handouts... |
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