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TIME: Almanac 1990
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1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
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time
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070389
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07038900.054
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1990-09-22
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WORLD, Page 29GREECECaught in the LabyrinthPapandreou, ailing and under attack, is not yet out for the count
Reasonable people expected that Prime Minister Andreas
Papandreou would suffer heavier losses. He had campaigned for the
June 18 parliamentary elections amid a series of scandals linking
some members of his government to huge embezzlement, fraud, payoffs
and illegal arms deals. On top of that, there was his public
romance with Dimitra Liani, a former airline flight attendant half
his age. But Papandreou's Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK)
slid only far enough to lose its majority. And since no other party
won more than half the seats, Papandreou, who was hospitalized in
serious condition last week with lung, heart and kidney
complications, is staying on as caretaker Prime Minister while the
struggle continues to form a government.
The major beneficiary in the balloting was Constantine
Mitsotakis' conservative New Democracy Party, which won 145 seats,
just six short of control in the 300-seat Parliament. The New
Democrats campaigned on the promise of "catharsis," which included
investigating and prosecuting political bigwigs implicated in
several cases of alleged fraud that involved millions of dollars,
including the embezzlement of more than $210 million from the Bank
of Crete by its former owner George Koskotas.
For the first time, the Communists in Greece hold the balance
of parliamentary power. The Alliance of the Left, which the
Communists dominate, won 28 seats and could form a government with
either PASOK, which holds 125 seats, or New Democracy. Communist
Party leader Harilaos Florakis also demands catharsis but so far
has refused to consider entering a coalition under either
Papandreou or Mitsotakis.
Before he fell ill, Papandreou, 70, hoped to talk the Alliance
of the Left into joining PASOK in "a coalition of the progressive
forces." He dismissed the financial scandals, claiming they are
simply plots instigated against him by "foreign and domestic
forces." But last week another scandal was revealed as U.S.
authorities arrested 14 employees of the National Mortgage Bank of
Greece on charges of illegally transferring about $700 million to
the bank's central office in Athens, apparently to avoid paying
taxes.
While the political parties continue to look for a possible
deal, the business of Greece has come to a halt. Since there is no
elected head of government, President Christos Sartzetakis will
represent Greece at this week's European summit in Madrid.
Negotiations with the U.S. for a new agreement on American military
bases in Greece must await a functioning government. A long-overdue
austerity program is also on hold. "The country is running itself
now," said Parliament member George Voulgarakis.
The Alliance has proposed a short-term "ecumenical government"
made up of public figures who are acceptable to all sides. Such a
transition team would be assigned to set the cleanup in motion and
then take the country into new elections. As Papandreou's health
deteriorated last week, many in Athens believed it might be the one
way out of the labyrinth.