PM tells ministers to refocus
Still languishing in the shadow of a property scandal that threatens to seriously damage the government, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis gathered his ministers and demanded that they refocus on «real politics.» In a rare meeting of the ministerial council, the prime minister urged his ministers to concentrate on the task at hand rather than being sidetracked by a series of scandals and allegations that have surfaced in recent weeks. «I ask all of you to focus exclusively on our targets, the substance of politics and the attainment of tangible results,» he said, according to sources. Karamanlis stopped short of singling out any particular ministers but rumors persisted last night that Merchant Marine Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis would be forced to step down. Voulgarakis has been at the center of heavy criticism after it was revealed that he owned two real estate firms that have allegedly been active in the market in recent years. The minister was hit by more allegations yesterday when the leader of the right-wing Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS), Giorgos Karatzaferis, claimed in Parliament that Voulgarakis’s wife had received a payment of 300,000 euros for acting as a notary in the controversial exchange of land between the state and the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos. Supreme Court prosecutor Giorgos Sanidas ordered an investigation into the deal this week after discovering evidence that the state property handed over had been seriously undervalued. Voulgarakis responded to Karatzaferis’s claims by issuing a statement, saying he was a victim of defamation and that someone was seeking to put an end to his political career. He said that the law stipulates that in contracts involving the state, any money paid to notaries is then passed on to their union. Pressure grew in Parliament yesterday for the Vatopedi deal to be examined by MPs. Both PASOK and Synaspismos Left Coalition demanded the setting up of a parliamentary committee to look at the evidence gathered by Sanidas in his preliminary investigation before conducting a probe of its own. Former Deputy Agricultural Minister Evangelos Basiakos hit back yesterday at claims that he had overseen the property deal, saying that he did not have the authority to sign any of the relevant documents.
