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HELLO FROM BECKENHAM

Hello to all my blog watchers. You may have noticed that I have started a new blog - The Adventures of a Pensioner in Britain. I hope you will take a look, and catch up with my life at the moment. I have not abandoned Crete, rest assured, I will be back. But for now, I have decided that I would rather live in Britain to be near to my daughter, and within striking distance of my son.

So, I can't really comment on Vrahassi at the moment, other than I know that Cosmos bar has closed down, and George is now running Lefteris' bar in the center. That is George who used to run Cosmos bar.

The Greek government got their hand out from the EEC but I doubt that will put any more money into the hands of the Greek people. There are still lots of strikes taking place, though I cannot see what good that is going to do.

Anyway, life goes on. Do take a look at my new blog if you are interested. Oh, and don't forget that my book, Tears from the Sun - A Cretan Journey can be ordered from any good bookshop. It would make a good Christmas present for all lovers of Crete.

Have a good run up to Christmas everyone. Take care, bye for now,
Love Jane x

ND and Pasok dominance dealt 'fatal blow'

by George Gilson 6 May 2012

The Greek electorate dealt a fatal blow to the decades-old hegemony of the two parties, Pasok and New Democracy, that approved the harsh EU-IMF bailout memorandum. New Democracy placed first as expected, but its 19.18 percent is a far cry for a parliamentary majority, and a steep drop from its 33.5 percent when ND was routed in 2008. Many expected a strong backlash from the centrist, liberal faction of the party, which has criticised leader Antonis Samaras’ strategy. The results noted are as announced at 9.30 pm, with about a fifth of the votes counted, by the Singular Logic company that is processing the returns. ND was decimated by its leader’s decision to expel about 20 MPs that voted down the bailout memorandum. The Independent Greeks, an ND splinter party, is garnering 10.5 percent. Party leader Panos Kammenos suggested that MPs may break party lines to form an ant-memorandum coalition, and he alluded to possible leadership challenges in parties. The astounding success of the Radical Left Coalition (Syriza), which is poised with 16.5 percent, to become the main opposition, is the greatest upset of the election. That guarantees party leader Alexis Tsipras an exploratory mandate, if Samaras fails to form government, to see if he can form a left-wing anti-memorandum government, as he pledged. The total collapse of Pasok is the most dramatic development in the election, as its 13.6 percent is about 30 percentage points less than its 2009 showing. Only in the 1970s, before the party first came to power, did it record a lower result. Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos said there was no clear mandate for any single party. He called for a national unity government, comprised of all pro-EU parties, regardless of their position on the harsh fiscal adjustment programme. Venizelos said that the electorate completely upset the political scene, and he attributed the electoral disaster to the fact that Pasok on its own had to manage the crisis all on its own. “We embittered the people to protect the future of the nation. History will judge,” Venizelos said after the 9.30pm results. “Let the God of Greece help us!” he proclaimed, declaring that the party must be “reborn”. Venizelos noted that a Pasok-ND coalition is not feasible, and that a coalition government needs broader participation. “We are back to where we started in 1974,” Pasok MP Petros Efthimiou told private Mega TV after Venizelos’ statement.  Parties that are pro-EU but oppose the memorandum include Fotis Kouvelis’ Democratic Left, which is expected to receive about six percent. Panos Kammenos’ anti-memorandum Independent Greeks is not anti-EU per se, but Kammenos says he will not cooperate with the leaders of Pasok and ND, whom he denounces as “traitors”. The Communist Party (KKE) appeared to gain little support from the crisis, as its 8.5 percent is just a tad higher than the 7.54 percent it received in 2009. The entry into parliament of the extreme right Golden Dawn party, with a projected seven percent, is one of the most alarming results of the election. That would give the neo-Nazi party about 22 seats in the 300 member legislature. Three parties appear to be a hair’s breadth from entering parliament. Both right wing Laos and the Ecogreens are projected to receive about 2.9 percent, a sliver shy of the three percent threshold. Dora Bakoyannis’ Democratic Alliance garnered 2.7 percent in the 9:30 pm projections, based on 50 percent of the nationwide count. Report from the Athens News 7 May 2012 So, it is far from over!  Jane x

NEW COALITION GOVERNMENT SWORN IN

Watch Atlas sprint

by George Gilson 11 Nov 2011

Members of the newly appointed government swear in during a ceremony at the presidential mansion in Athens, 11 November 2011. REUTERS/Yiorgos Karahalis Lucas Papademos’ new coalition government is hitting the ground running, with a cabinet meeting following the swearing in ceremony at 4pm. The release of a sixth tranche of EU-IMF loans, to the tune of eight billion euros, is the government’s most pressing priority. Then it must undertake the daunting task of passing and implementing the harshest austerity programme in decades. The new government’s programme will be presented in a televised address by Papademos, during the government’s first confidence vote, expected by Sunday night. The new cabinet is the product of 24-hours of feverish negotiations, reflecting balances within and between parties, as well as between the new prime minister and the three coalition partners. The vast majority of ministers are from Pasok -most keeping their former posts - which retains its parliamentary majority. But there is broad, high-level representation by the other two coalition partners: main opposition conservative New Democracy and, further to the right, Yiorgos Karatzaferis’ Popular Orthodox Rally (Laos). In a sign of stability, Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and two of his deputies will stay on. But it is clear that economic policy will be fashioned and monitored personally by Papademos, a former vice-president of the European Central Bank. As deputy finance minister, a top economic advisor to conservative New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras, University of Macedonia macroeconomics professor Yiannis Mourmouras, will guarantee an input of ND, which has maintained it has a better economic policy mix than that followed by Greece’s EU-IMF lenders. New Democracy’s fate is now inextricably linked to that of Greece’s bailout, as the main opposition has picked up the top portfolios of foreign affairs and defence. Former European Commissioner Stavros Dimas, a moderate who until now was one of two ND vice-presidents, will undertake to repair Greece’s damaged credibility both within the EU and internationally. He takes office at a time of economic crisis when many believe there may be challenges to Greece’s national interests. Mild-mannered, Dimas has held top cabinet posts in older ND governments. Dimitris Avramopoulos - a former diplomat-turned-politician who has served as health minister and earlier as Athens mayor, takes the defence portfolio at a time of heightened Turkish threats over Cyprus’ hydrocarbon programme. Papademos chose one of his most trusted confidants, former Pasok minister Tassos Giannitsis to assume the crucial interior ministry. There, he must lay the groundwork for the restructuring and rationalisation of Greek public administration. He must also undertake the painful implementation of the unified pay structure, with deep, new civil service wage cuts. Both Papademos and Giannitsis, another disciple of fiscal discipline, were close friends and in the inner political circle of former Pasok premier Costas Simitis, who ruled with the mantra of modernisation. The new boy on the block is Yiorgos Karatzaferis’ rightwing Laos party. He was rewarded for his long-standing advocacy of a coalition with four government portfolios, taken by his top MPs and his party’s vice-president. Makis Voridis MP takes the key infrastructure transport, and networks ministry, at a time when the unblocking of four major highway projects is crucial for releasing EU funding and spurring development. He will also have to deal with the huge backlash from taxi drivers and truckers against the liberalisation of their industries. Horst Reichenbach, the head of the European Commission Task Force that will oversee implementation of the Greek bailout terms, cited the highway projects as a top priority. The other three Laos posts are at the level of deputy minister, including Adonis Georgiadis as deputy development minister, responsible for shipping. Many, including ND, have advocated the restoration of a separate shipping ministry, as Greek shipowners play a leading role in international shipping. Asteris Rontoulis becomes deputy minister for rural development and food. Former ambassador Georgios Georgiou, Laos vice-president and Karatzaferis’ closest party confidant, will serve as alternate defence minister. Four women will sit in the cabinet: Education Minister Anna Diamantopoulou, Alternate Foreign Minister Mariliza Xenoyiannakopoulou, Alternate Interior Minister Fofi Yennimata, and Deputy Education Minister Evi Christofilopoulou. All four were in the former Pasok government. The parliamentary debate (usually three days) leading to the constitutionally mandated vote of confidence is expected to begin later today or tomorrow. Received after the swearing-in ceremony by the outgoing premier at the prime minister’s mansion, Papademos praised George Papandreou’s “huge effort over the last two years” toward stabilisation and adjustment.