April 6, 1956
PAPANDREOU AND ‘IDEA’: The leader of the Liberals, Mr George Papandreou, said in Parliament yesterday he believed the organization known as IDEA (Sacred Bond of Greek Officers) continued to exist despite the assurances otherwise of the defense minister (Aristides Protopapadakis). He said that in peacetime, the existence of a paramilitary organization was a violation of democracy which undermined the armed forces and was a danger to the nation. Therefore it was (…) the general demand of the entire National Assembly that the army be purged of any paramilitary group and remain solely a national army obeying only the orders of the country’s legitimate government. TSALDARIS AND THE LEFT: The leader of the People’s Party, Mr Constantine Tsaldaris, then spoke, saying that everyone in the House was equally patriotic and that there was nothing to divide them, even from those of the extreme left. After this last comment caused a stir in the House, Tsaldaris said, «I know what I am saying as I see further than most and I see that those on the extreme left are gradually moving away from the narrow views they have had until now in Greece and abroad.»
