Vote of confidence a victory for ‘true leadership’

(4 November 2011) The vote of confidence for Prime Minister George Papandreou in the Greek Parliament this evening (4 November), was warmly praised by Party of European Socialists’ President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen who said Greece should now focus on; “the urgent need for national unity in government and a national unity of purpose”. 

“Leadership is defined by actions and courage and humility”, stated Mr. Rasmussen. “George Papandreou has shown outstanding courage, he has acted decisively, and he has done so, as he has always done, with the interests of the Greek people at heart. It is with the same sense of national responsibility that the entire parliamentary group of PASOK”.

Mr. Papandreou stated that his Government had not only wrestled with the crisis for almost two years, but that they had taken enormous steps to put the Greek economy and Greek society on a sustainable footing. In his speech he had mentioned that; “The time has come for political collaboration. The time has come to renew our efforts”.

The PES President contrasted Papandreou’s actions with the ”petty posturing” of opposition leader Antonis Samaras, and said that “by pulling out of the proceeding before the vote of confidence, Mr. Samaras has yet again demonstrated a real lack of leadership. By turning his back on the urgent appeal of Mr. Papandreou to join forces across the political spectrum, and calling for immediate elections at this critical juncture for Greece, he has shown the extent of his irresponsibility.”

Turning to the European dimension, Mr. Rasmussen added that; “We should not forget that almost two years of chronic short termism, lead by the leaders of France and Germany, have led to this situation. The contrast with George’s actions tonight could not be clearer. This vote is a victory based on true leadership”.

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For further information please contact Brian Synnott on +32 474 98 96 75 (brian.synnott@pes.org)

The PES brings together 33 socialist, social democratic, labour and progressive parties in the European Union and Norway, a parliamentary group in the European Parliament (184 MEPs) and in the Committee of the Regions (247 members) - plus observer and associate parties and organizations from all over Europe. ECOSY and PES Women are respectively the Youth and the Women's organizations of the PES.