While chairing a cabinet meeting on Thursday, Prime Minister George Papandreou
apparently blamed the latest plunge of market confidence in Greek debt on the complexity of the debt crisis but also 'dissonance' within the European Union, government sources claimed. Referring to the road map that he presented before Easter, he stressed that this had outlined the framework for putting the economy in order and that the plan that the government would unveil in a few days would help bring the country out of the crisis.
The prime minister strongly criticised those recycling speculation that Greece will restructure its debt and pointed out that similar scenarios centring on a Greek default had been circulating a year earlier, before Greece signed the agreements for the 110-billion-euro loans from the IMF and European Union.
He stressed that the rampant speculation and fear-mongering should not be allowed to dominate politics and the media, nor to affect the government's responsible attitude toward tackling the crisis.
Papandreou was also scathing in his criticism of media pundits and political parties, saying the majority preferred to prophesy doom and, at times inadvertently, linked themselves with specific interests.
The prime minister pointed out that much had been done in the year since Greece had signed the Memorandum for the EU-IMF loans, most of which would not have been predicted by even the most optimistic.
He emphasised that the government should focus on doing its job and also commented on rumours of early elections or a reshuffle, saying these were issues that were minor compared with the major and significant problems facing the country. The government did not have the luxury to waste time on such issues, he added.
"We have an obligation to use all our strength to achieve the fiscal targets that are a condition for our country's success and to carry out the major changes that are our goal," Papandreou emphasised.
ANA-MPA
