Leads in the greek papers today..... Political intrigue , Greece on the block

Front Page Scan

by Makis Papasimakopoulos 3 Mar 2012

A bright, sunny day in Athens, sees the front pages of the Saturday press predominantly busying themselves with the exact date of the coming elections, while also finding room and time to indulge in some other interesting scenarios, that may or may not be products of a very active imagination. One such story sees the front page of theAcropolis newspaper today, which seems convinced that George Papandreou, who resigned as prime minister in order for Loukas Papademos to step into the fray, is actively looking to set up his own party, while at the same time making sure that Evangelos Venizelos does not take the Pasok reigns as the next party leader. Why Papandreou would form a new party and still want to have a say in how Pasok is run is a question that Acropolisperhaps did not consider at any depth but it makes for a good story, especially since the paper sees Christos Papoutsis as the man Papandreou is grooming for Pasok leader. A strange one indeed. Elsewhere, Eleftheri Ora seems to think that the government has sold off all our beaches, effectively handing over their management and profit gaining potential to the troika. They will have first and last say as to who takes advantage of them according to their main story, with any profit from such deals going directly into the coffers used to pay off Greece’s debt. I’m sure we shall be hearing more about this as summer closes in. A highly interesting story comes to us this morning from Thesaloniki, where controversial mayor Giannis Boutaris has made it clear that he is going forward with plans to implement a ticketing system for visitors to Seih Soux park. The park, perhaps the most famous forested urban area in all of Greece, was free for the public to visit up until now, but that all seems to change. Boutaris, who justified his plans by saying that it is something that happens with parks all over the world, as an effective way of raising the funds needed for its upkeep went on to throw another one of his now famous quips into the mixer by saying that “these days, not even a mother’s milk is free anymore”. The story takes up the fornt page of theTypos of Thessaloniki. Avriani, them of black background for main stories fame, have delved into the story that started making the rounds yesterday, concerning the possible oil reserves in the Ionian sea and the waters surrounding Crete. The eight companies that have expressed an interest into taking advantage of said reserves, are just the natural result of the grander design of our country being forced into bankruptcy, according to Avriani. The paper, always very vocal in voicing its concerns about scenarios which could see the entire country’s natural wealth sold into multinational “slavery”, believes this is only the beginning. Meanwhile, Evangelos Venizelos seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve to save Pasok’s crumbling ratings according to the Eleftheros Typos. They believe that the current member of the coalition government and the bookies favorite for next Pasok captain is waiting till after the elections to launch a new barrage of tax measures on the Greek public. The ploy, according to them, is one of particular cunning, as he seeks to go the elections with the natural momentum his perceived rise to the top of the Pasok ladder will have, saving any unwanted surprises till after the electional results. We shall see. Finally, a common thread seems to be running throughout Ethnos, Nea and Kathimerini, who are trying to pinpoint an exact date for the coming elections. Ethnos look to be the most unsure of the three, even implying that after prime minister Papademos’ latest comments, following the conclusion of the summit on Friday, the elections might not happen at all. At least not in April or May. The slightly broad, late April, early May period is what Nea sees as the time the coming elections will take place, while Kathimerini is very specific indeed, confidently going for the 29th of April as the exact date when the Greek public will be called upon to pick their leaders from a rather misfiring lot.