Athens is to retain its good looks when the Games are over
“The refurbishment of Athens has no expiry date,» insisted Athens Mayor Dora Bakoyannis in an interview with Kathimerini, describing the measures taken to spruce up the city and make it more beautiful for the Olympic Games. All of them are ongoing measures, said Bakoyannis, who is very pleased about the «unprecedented» cultural events (630 of them) planned for the capital during the Games. As for political developments, the mayor believes that New Democracy is strong and effective and should proceed with structural changes without compromises or concern for the political cost. She emphasizes that her proposals for structural change at the sixth regular congress were aimed at making the party function more democratically, proposals she said that had «no ulterior motive.» And she added, «Some people have to get over the conspiracy complex that has plagued us as a nation for so many years.» She repeats that her aim is to complete her task at the Municipality of Athens and acknowledges that she can see «problems in the capital that need solving.» Saying that she got on well with Athens 2004 President Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, Bakoyannis added that «a strategy based on a long-term developmental approach is a policy that overrides personality, egotism, personal antagonism and minor disagreements.»
