PM on four-year reform agenda
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis said yesterday his party’s four-year reform agenda would focus on education, social security, the public sector and the Constitution if the conservatives were re-elected in forthcoming national elections. Speaking at a party conference held at the Peace and Friendship stadium at Neo Faliron, Karamanlis said the changes were needed to help spur future growth. «Reforms will continue in the next four years with the completion of the revision of the Constitution, particularly Article 16, which has also been proposed by the main opposition party,» the prime minister said. An amendment to Article 16 of the Constitution is required to open the way for the establishment of non-state universities. An initial proposal on the constitutional amendment has been approved by Parliament but any change is not expected to be made until after the next national elections. «We have completed significant reforms in the past years and have created an appropriate foundation for their continuation,» Karamanlis added. Talks have also been launched on how best to press ahead with much needed reforms in the country’s creaking social security system. However, the government has stressed that pension reforms will only be introduced after comprehensive public debate on the issue during its next term in office.
