More than two years after he was hounded out of office by protests, strikes and riots over austerity measures he imposed on the orders of international lenders, former Prime Minister George Papandreou said he laid the groundwork for a primary surplus that current Premier and New Democracy Conservative party leader Antonis Samaras said his administration created.
The former PASOK Socialist chief Papandreou, who is still a sitting Member of Parliament and spent much of his time lecturing to Ivy League colleges in the United States on governance – and giving lucrative speeches on the lecture circuit – has also blamed the European Union and speculators for creating Greece’s crushing economic crisis.
He took no responsibility for the crisis nor for his party and New Democracy packing public payrolls with hundreds of thousands of needless workers for decades in return for votes.
Papandreou criticized Samaras’ coalition – which also includes PASOK – for failing to acknowledge what he said was the part his administration played in reducing the country’s deficit, although it didn’t make a dent while he was ruling.
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