January 11, 1960
FARMERS’ PENSIONS: During yesterday’s session of Parliament there was a heated and, at certain moments, even violent debate of the proposal by the head of the Liberal Party, George Papandreou, to grant retirement pensions to the country’s farmers. The conclusions of the debate are as follows: The government considers Papandreou’s proposal as baseless and that it is impossible to deal with such a major issue considering the present circumstances. It was suggested that instead of proposing such wide-reaching impractical measures, it would be better to await the conclusions of a committee that has been studying the issue for some time and will be presenting its conclusions in due course. It also emerged during the parliamentary debate that a report on the matter had been commissioned from a German expert. The government meanwhile assured Parliament that once all the results had been studied it would be able to deal with the issue with the seriousness it deserved and would be in a position to decide on the conditions under which it will be possible to provide farmers with social security.
