VZCZCXYZ0005
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHTH #0478 0911455
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 311455Z MAR 08
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1569
INFO RUCNMEU/EU INTEREST COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS ATHENS 000478 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ELAB ECON SOCI GR
SUBJECT: NO CONFIDENCE MOTION FAILS IN GREEK PARLIAMENT 
 
REF A: ATHENS 452 
REF B: ATHENS 400 
 
SUMMARY 
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¶1. (U) On March 28, a censure motion - essentially a call for a vote 
of no confidence - raised by the main opposition PASOK party, failed 
by a vote of 152 to 138.  The three-day debate preceding the vote 
provided Greek parliamentarians an opportunity to excoriate the 
government for its handling of efforts at pension reform, as well as 
the "Macedonia name issue" and other hot-button topics.  End 
summary. 
 
¶2. (U) After an often vociferous three-day debate, Greek PM Kostas 
Karamanlis emerged unscathed on March 28 from acensure motion tabled 
by the main opposition PASOK (Ref A).  With ten abstentions (by 
right-wing LAOS party MPs) in the 300-seat parliament, the 
government overcame the no-confidence motion 152-138 originally 
raised by main opposition PASOK on March 26.  The ballot was the 
culmination of weeks of intense verbal sparring between the 
government and opposition over a controversial pension reform bill 
that caused mass protests and strikes in the public sector (Ref B). 
 
 
¶3. (U) PASOK leader George Papandreou brought the censure motion 
against the PM accusing him and the government of harming the 
interests of millions of workers and "destroying" Greece's highly 
fragmented and nearly bankrupt pension system.  The pension reform 
bill is expected to pass a final procedural vote on March 31, after 
three parliamentary ballots on separate groups of its individual 
articles. 
 
¶4. (U) Debate on the censure motion presented an opportunity for 
opposition politicians to raise a host of hot-button issues, 
including the so-called "Macedonia name issue."  Both PM Karamanlis 
and FM Dora Bakoyannis delivered sharp remarks reiterating Greece's 
determination to veto Macedonia's NATO bid if a satisfactory 
solution to the name problem was not reached before the Bucharest 
NATO summit.  Papandreou did not miss the opportunity to indict the 
government for "losing control" of the diplomatic negotiations about 
the name, but agreed with the front bench that, save a last-minute 
resolution of the issue, Greece had to stop "FYROM" from joining 
NATO. 
 
SPECKHARD