Pressure on PM to deliver with speech
Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis will today put the finishing touches to the speech that he will deliver at the meeting of New Democracy’s central committee tomorrow, knowing that pressure is growing from party members for him to make some bold moves to help the government get out of the rut it is in. Various rumors circulated yesterday about what the premier might say. Sources said he will not seek to grandstand but will call for the attention of everyone in his party to return to «real politics» and concentrate on reforms after a sustained period when the conservatives appeared beset by scandals and internal disagreements. However, there are many in the party who fear that this message will not be enough and that Karamanlis needs to be more aggressive in his approach. There was evidence yesterday of the mood within the prime minister’s camp in favor of a mild approach when Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos suggested that the ND rebels who have been critical of the government and Karamanlis will not face any action. «There are no rebels in New Democracy, We are a free, democratic party where everyone is entitled to his opinion and can express it freely,» he said.
