home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
TIME: Almanac 1990
/
1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
/
time
/
120489
/
12048900.018
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-09-19
|
1KB
|
25 lines
WORLD, Page 61World NotesGREECEPartnership Of Enemies
In the end there were only two choices: hold the third national
election in less than a year, or adopt the parliamentary course of
last resort, a government of national unity. Last week Greece's
three warring political groups swallowed hard and chose the latter.
In the new government that was sworn in last week, conservatives,
socialists and Communists are for the first time ever steering the
ship of state in unison. The new coalition, which is led by Prime
Minister Xenophon Zolotas, 85, a former governor of the Bank of
Greece, will remain in office until new elections in April.
The uncomfortable partnership was made possible after Socialist
leader Andreas Papandreou finally dropped his demand for electoral
reforms that would have benefited the leftists. The former Prime
Minister, 70, who has been charged with bribe taking and breach of
faith, will have no formal position in the new government.
For Zolotas, who is not a member of any party, the top priority
is to repair the creaking economy, which is burdened by a large
public debt and a 14% inflation rate -- three times that of the
European Community. Several remedial measures have already been
announced, including a 5% income tax hike and a 1% reduction in
public spending.