Violence pushed aside
The violent scenes in Athens last week are unlikely to prompt the prime minister to rethink his election tactics, the defense minister said yesterday as a poll indicated that the majority of voters do not believe that New Democracy has kept its pre-election pledges. The survey by VPRC on behalf of Sunday’s Kathimerini suggests that only 19 percent of voters think that the government has lived up to its promises. Six in 10 respondents said that the ruling conservatives have failed to meet their commitments. However, the results of the poll are equally worrying for the main opposition party, PASOK, as two in three voters feel the Socialists have «probably not» undergone a renewal since their election defeat three years ago. In fact, 58 percent of those questioned said that there was little or no difference between the policies of the two main parties. The poll still puts New Democracy 3.5 percent ahead of PASOK in terms of popularity. The large-scale clashes between rioters and police in central Athens last Thursday has led to talk of early elections resurfacing, as some government members feel that a fresh mandate from voters would help the conservatives push these and other changes through. Speaking to Sunday’s Kathimerini, Defense Minister Evangelos Meimarakis indicated it was unlikely that Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis would go back on his word and go to the polls before next March. «The government is working on the basis of a full four-year term, unless a very serious issue comes up, but at the moment nothing like that has appeared,» said Meimarakis. There was more violence in central Athens early yesterday when some 50 youths hurled rocks and Molotov cocktails at police in Exarchia. Two policemen were injured, prompting Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras to call the incident a «murderous attack» on police officers. The self-styled anarchists also stole a riot shield and two helmets.
