Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990 TAG: 9004100166
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A6 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: ATHENS, GREECE LENGTH: Medium
Mitsotakis, 71, renewed his pledge to pick a Cabinet by Wednesday that he said will begin a difficult struggle to untangle Greece's economic confusion and restore stable rule to a country that has been without clear political direction for more than a year and a half.
The backing from Constantine Stephanopoulos's Democratic Renewal Party, which earned one seat in Sunday's national elections, boosted Mitsotakis from his own 150 seats to a narrow 151-seat majority in the 300-member Greek Parliament.
Although that was enough to form a government, Greek analysts cautioned, it remained a fragile base for the austerity measures prescribed by Greek economists to overcome a $2.5 billion budget deficit and calm an inflation rate that has surpassed 16 percent.
Stephanopoulos, who said he would not be part of the government, pledged his support of Mitsotakis because the Greek economy could wait no longer after inconclusive elections on June 18 - called when Socialist Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou was driven from office - and on Nov. 5 produced caretaker governments without authority to make decisions.
Several Greek analysts said a number of voters apparently cast their ballots for Mitsotakis at the last minute on that basis, fearful of what another stalemated parliament would mean for the country. Most opinion polls, including those taken for New Democracy, had predicted last week another standoff was likely on the strength of longstanding party loyalties.
The big loser in Sunday's voting appeared to be Papandreou, 71, who ruled Greece through most of the 1980s. His Panhellenic Socialist Movement, or Pasok, won 38.6 percent of the vote for 123 seats in Parliament, compared with Mitsotakis' 46.9 percent for the 150 seats.
by CNB