May 27, 1954
CORRUPTION: Yesterday’s session of Parliament focused once again on the action the government is taking to help the earthquake victims in Thessaly. Mr George Papandreou observed that the government’s claim that it had swiftly found housing for the homeless was not exactly correct. The opposition, in good faith and in a patriotic spirit, had done its duty to the utmost, declaring the truth and not exploiting the disaster, something the government had accused it of. Mr P. Argyropoulos said that if the newspapers were accusing the opposition of exploiting the issue, it was because the Papagos government was responsible. Mr Papandreou replied that this observation required a general examination of the relationship between the «directed» pro-government press and the government. The issue, he said, was serious and would be raised in Parliament. It would be shown, he said, how the government was responsible for promoting an unprecedented financial dependence by the press on the will of the government and by extension, essentially the abolition of freedom of the press, which is the foundation of democracy.
