PM defiant on universities
The prime minister showed no sign yesterday of giving in to continuing protests against his government’s university reforms bill as he insisted that the ruling conservatives had a popular mandate to see the changes through. «With society at our side, we are carrying out the necessary reforms which will secure with certainty a better tomorrow for everyone,» said Premier Costas Karamanlis after his meeting with Education Minister Marietta Giannakou. University teachers voted on Sunday to continue their protests against the bill for a ninth week. Students are due to stage a protest outside Parliament at 6.30 p.m. today and another rally at noon on Thursday. The teachers also plan to lodge an appeal against the bill with the Council of State, Greece’s highest administrative court. Student representatives told Kathimerini that the occupation of 273 university departments would continue at least until the end of the week. University teachers want the reforms bill withdrawn, while some rectors have asked for more time to consider the changes before MPs vote on the draft law. However, Giannakou told reporters that the time for talk had finished. «We have already had a long dialogue,» said the education minister. «Many of the suggestions made in Parliament were taken on board and our proposals are totally in line with the standards of the best European universities.» MPs are expected to vote on the controversial university reforms bill this week but the government suffered a setback yesterday when a group of experts which advises Parliament asked for a number of points in the draft law to be cleared up. The members of the Scientific Council asked, among other clarifications, that the government to make clear under exactly what circumstances someone could be prosecuted for abusing the university asylum law which restricts police presence on campus.
