OPINION

October 10, 1952

PLASTIRAS’S RESIGNATION: The political situation moved smoothly toward elections yesterday after the resignation of the Plastiras government, the dissolution of Parliament and the proclamation of elections for November 16. The caretaker government under Supreme Court justice Dimitrios Kiousopoulos will be sworn in before King Pavlos at 10.30 a.m. today. ACCOUNT: The head of the government which has resigned, General Plastiras, made an address to the Greek people at 10.30 last night (in which he said, among other things): «The government was not able over the last year to do all it wanted and all it needed to do (…). The reaction of the Greek Rally (party) in all instances, whether to social, political or national measures, was rabid (…). We managed to pursue a policy of pacification, which I consider my government’s most splendid achievement. Fear, terror, suspicion and hatred were purged from the countryside and cities alike. (…) In foreign affairs, we completed the country’s external security system. We led Greece into NATO. (…) Never before had our relations with the United States, this selfless leader of the free world, been so close. (…) The expropriation of big estates, which will bring joy to large numbers of landless peasants, and the increases in minimum wages are a further source of pride. We put an end to constitutional disorder with the new Constitution, despite the obvious efforts by the opposition to maintain (…) a state of political turmoil.

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