- Title: GREECE: NEW PREMIER OUTLINES GOVERNMENTAL PLANS IN NATIONAL TELEVISION BROADCAST.
- Date: 29th November 1973
- Summary: 1. GV Monitors PAN ACROSS TO production assistants in TV studio (2 shots) 0.16 2. GV & CU ZOOM OUT TO MV Prime Minister on TV monitors in studio as P.A.s look on (3 shots) 0.34 3. MV ZOOM INTO CU Prime Minister speaking live monochrome 0.45 4. SCU TV set ZOOM OUT TO MV family watching (2 shots) 1.00 5. CU Prime Minister on TV speaking 1.04 6. MV Family watching 1.08 7. CU ZOOM OUT TO Prime Minister speaking live 1.22 Initials BB/2226 AS/DW/BB/2241 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 14th December 1973 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: ATHENS, GREECE
- Country: Greece
- Reuters ID: LVA5IU5L6BK76BJJOV2Z3ZIF52UJ
- Story Text: A new constitution will be drafted -- that's what Mr. Adamantios Androutsopoulos, Greece's new Prime Minister, told a national television audience during a speech broadcast on Wednesday night (28 November).
The 54-year-old Prime Minister, who took office after last Sunday's (25 November), outlined his government's policies during the broadcast.
Explaining the military intervention in national affairs, Mr. Androutsopoulos said, "the country faced a dangerous constitutional crisis and a completely inoperative regime while at the same time it faced a political impasse and serious problems."
He then referred to the sweeping powers that he saw vested in one man, the ousted President, George Papadopoulos, who was in complete control of the vital sectors of foreign affairs, national defence and public order. "This concentration of all powers", the Prime Minister said, "constitutes the very definition of tyranny."
Mr. Androutsopoulos accused the deposed government of having allowed a few hundred youths to become a menace, disturbing peace and order -- a reference to the student revolt earlier this month when 5,000 young people occupied the Athens Polytechnic School, demanding the resignation of the government. It was this revolt that precipitated the Army coup.
The Prime Minister did have some words of praise for the Papadopoulos regime. He said he did not underestimate the seriousness of the problems it had faced, and congratulated it for its economic achievements.
On the economic front, Mr. androutsopoulos promised to achieve conditions for short-term economic equilibrium, and curb price increases within economic and social limits. Turning to foreign policy, he reiterated Greece's adherence to the ideals of freedom and peace, adding "Greece will remain faithful to its international obligations and alliances but will also seek her rights."
Observers in Athens feel that statements in the Prime Minister's broadcast indicate that the new regime is not likely to restore parliamentary rule in the near future.
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