Reforms, not polls on the way, says PM

Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis attempted to end speculation about early elections when he addressed New Democracy MPs yesterday as PASOK tried to convince voters that the government should not be trusted with a second term in office. «The reforms we are carrying out will continue after the 2008 elections,» Karamanlis told his parliamentary group, which had been beset by rumors in recent weeks that the prime minister was considering going to the polls earlier than next March. Karamanlis’s speech yesterday marked the completion of his party’s third year in power and he used the opportunity to defend the ruling conservatives’ record. «We are progressing with certainty and the results so far show that we are on the right course,» he said while making particular reference to the reduction of unemployment and the reduction of the public deficit. With regard to the troublesome education reforms, Karamanlis admitted that his government had made some mistakes but insisted he would not give in to opposition. «In some case, mistakes may have been made.» the prime minister said. «We are not infallible.» In a challenge to opposition parties and university teachers and students who have rejected the reforms, Karamanlis said the government was trying to ensure that degrees have some value and that the aims of the draft law are clear for all to see. The prime minister also attacked PASOK, accusing the Socialists of «underestimating the public’s intelligence.» «They promise everything they rejected in government,» said Karamanlis. «They have forgotten the debts and corruption they left behind.» PASOK hit back by producing a «Book of Unreliability» which the Socialists say outlines the promises to voters that New Democracy has not kept. «The biggest redistribution of income in favor of the few and against the many over the last 30 years took place during the last three years,» says an excerpt of the 14-chapter pamphlet, which focused on social and economic issues.