Papandreou resignation report is ‘nonsense,’ says spokesman
A recent report suggesting that Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou is considering resignation was rebuffed by a spokesman from his Athens office on Tuesday as ?nonsense,? according to reports.
The spokesman, who declined to be named, denied a report in the Financial Times Deutschland saying that Papandreou has twice spoken about his resignation with confidants in the past three weeks. Both times Papandreou offered his resignation yet continued working, the newspaper said, citing people familiar with the matter.
According to the unnamed sources, the Greek premier is unable to bear the pressure of rising public discontent and protests at home against austerity measures, including a second round of pension and wage cuts, coupled with frustration from Greece?s creditors ? the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund ? that Athens is not doing enough to meet fiscal targets agreed upon in a July 21 meeting outlining the terms for a sixth loan installment.
According to the FTD report, a resignation by Papandreou would be a «catastrophe» in the middle of ongoing negotiations on new aid and during the process of eliminating thousands of public service jobs, the insider was quoted as saying, adding: «But when he gets tired of being in office and that fixates in his mind, he will take that step sooner or later.”
This year?s austerity measures allow for dismissal of state workers, a first for the country. The government by December will identify 30,000 public workers who will be put on reduced pay and either retire early or eventually be fired.
The plan aims to save 300 million euros from the government wage bill in 2012 and have drawn renewed opposition from union groups.
?For the first time since the foundation of the Greek state and after a century of struggle, the permanency of civil servants is being abolished in the most inhuman, unconstitutional and illegal manner,? Athens-based ADEDY, which represents about 750,000 state workers, said. The government has decided ?to offer up state workers as prey to the country?s creditors,? Bloomberg quoted the organization as saying.
