PM ponders Cabinet as PASOK plunges into leadership race
Costas Karamanlis began drawing up plans for his new Cabinet yesterday after he was voted back into power with a slender majority in Sunday’s elections, which have also sparked a battle for leadership within PASOK. With almost all the votes counted last night, New Democracy had gained 152 seats in the 300-seat Parliament, 13 fewer than in 2004. The conservatives gained 41.84 percent of the vote, which was some 3.5 percent less than three-and-a-half years ago. This is likely to signal a tough road ahead for Karamanlis, who pledged during the election campaign to pick up the pace of reforms if he returned to office. He is likely to come under pressure from the parties of the Left, which garnered their biggest ever total of votes, and the Right, in the form of the nationalist Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS). There will also be pressure on Karamanlis from his party’s own supporters, given that more than 360,000 people who voted for ND in 2004 deserted the conservatives on Sunday. «We are fully aware of our great responsibility,» said Karamanlis after visiting President Karolos Papoulias to formally receive the right to form a government. «We owe it to all Greeks, regardless of who they voted for, to move forward quickly and decisively. This is the mandate that we have received from the people and this is our pledge.» The prime minister spent the rest of the day at his office with his closest aides and did not reveal anything about the potential makeup of his new Cabinet. However, it is expected that one of the key appointments that Karamanlis will make is to move Dimitris Sioufas from the Development Ministry and make him the new parliamentary speaker. As ND has such a slim majority, Karamanlis wants a person he can trust implicitly in that position. Finance Minister Giorgos Alogoskoufis, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis, Defense Minister Evangelos Meimarakis and government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos, who is also minister of state, are almost certain to remain in their posts. Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras is unlikely to return to government after a poor showing in Sunday’s poll and because his department might be merged with the Interior Ministry. Karamanlis is also thought to be considering bringing in some new faces to the government, such as MEPs Antonis Samaras and Costis Hatzidakis. The prime minister is expected to announce the members of his Cabinet today so they can be sworn in tomorrow. PASOK leader George Papandreou was also locked in discussions with close aides last night as his stewardship of the Socialist party looked to be under severe threat from MP Evangelos Venizelos. Papandreou admitted defeat at around 1 a.m. yesterday and accepted his share of the responsibility for a performance that saw PASOK lose 15 parliamentary seats and 2.45 percent of the popular vote in comparison to its performance in 2004. It was PASOK’s worst showing in a general election since 1977. Papandreou said he would begin straight away the process to «renew support» for his leadership but this immediately brought a challenge from Venizelos, a Thessaloniki deputy who is known to have harbored leadership ambitions for several years. The PASOK leader was contemplating his options yesterday as sources did not rule out the possibility that he will decide to step down altogether and leave it to others to fight it out for the leadership. One of those candidates who appears to want to be considered is Anna Diamantopoulou who admitted that Papandreou’s leadership should be challenged. «I am present and on the front line,» she said live on TV. «There are serious and big problems that have to do with the (party’s) profile, planning strategy… and internal operation.» I believe that everyone has the right… to submit their proposal if it is different,» said Diamantopoulou. Venizelos seemed to have stolen a march on Papandreou as he met yesterday with Costas Simitis, the party’s former leader and ex-prime minister. Venizelos said that Simitis would act as a «guarantor» of the «unity and democratic and transparent processes» that would lead to a vote on the party’s leadership. The deputy called for a swift resolution to the issue. «PASOK cannot be caught up in internal processes and allow Costas Karamanlis to have the illusion that he is starting a new period as prime minister,» said Venizelos. Simitis echoed this sentiment, saying that it is vital for a leadership race to take place soon so PASOK is not plunged into a «long-term crisis.» It is likely that PASOK’s political council will meet on Thursday and its national council on the weekend to decide on the date for a leadership vote.
