The government on Tuesday dismissed main opposition
New Democracy's accusations concerning a "secret agenda," which ND said included a series new measures that Greece had agreed to during Friday's Eurozone leaders' summit.
New Democracy's accusations concerning a "secret agenda," which ND said included a series new measures that Greece had agreed to during Friday's Eurozone leaders' summit.
"Of course there is no secret agenda. We are pressing ahead to support the country's interests," government spokesman Yiorgos Petalotis underlined in reply. Prime Minister George Papandreou would outline the results of the Summit during Wednesday's discussion in Parliament, during which the positions of the political party leaders will also be heard, the spokesman added.
Petalotis went on to criticised ND, saying that talk of a 'secret agenda' was its new tactic for trying to belittle any success the country or its government might have.
Asked to explain the statements of a German government spokesman, who said the decisions of the informal summit were taken after Greek promised further cuts and austerity measures, Petalotis said the government went to the summit with a "clear" position, presented the country's true situation honestly, carried out tough negotiations with 17 countries that had often conflicting interests and achieved the results it did "because what we have done but also the prospects we are creating for our own country were recognised".
He suggested that the German spokesman was referring to the government's pre-existing commitment to raise 50 billion euro through exploitation of state assets in an ambitious privatisation programme, which the government had taken itself.
"We are operating in a situation where there are special circumstances. We can make positive steps and get credit for them but unless we continue the same effort with even greater dedication and at even faster rates, it is not certain that we will emerge from the crisis," he said.
The spokesman pointed to figures showing a 40 percent increase in experts in January, saying that these indicated a new extroversion in Greek businesses, proving that Greece had comparative advantages that it had a duty to exploit.
ND spokesman Yiannis Mihelakis had earlier accused the government of having a 'secret agenda' based on the statements made by German government spokesman Steffen Seibert, who had referred to a "series of commitments" for further cutbacks and reforms in Greece, Portugal and partly in Ireland.
"We ask to know if there are new terms and what commitments the government has made for new measures," he stressed, noting that the German spokesman referred specifically to Greece.
source: ANA-MPA
