President Papoulias says Greece's partners "owe Greece" a deal on reducing public debt

The President of the Republic Karolos Papoulias emphasized on Wednesday in a statement marking 40 years since the reinstatement of Democracy in Greece, that Democracy itself suffered a setback due to the recent crisis, "which possibly constitutes the most dramatic side-effect of the economic adventure".

Papoulias called for the "deepening of Democracy and reclamation of economic self-sufficiency", as the necessary conditions for healing the wounds of Greek society, as well as for improving the modus operandi of the system of government.

The President made a special reference to the ongoing reforms, noting that "it is up to us to come up with a solution that can be found only through wide reforms and radical structural changes, which will help remove the causes behind the fiscal derailment". Papoulias called for the consolidation of rules which promote tax justice among taxpayers.

In a note directed to his critics, Papoulias commented that "the Constitution clearly delimits the competence of the President of the Republic... it was my conscious decision to... avoid violating the institutional order".

Papoulias emphasized that Greece's partners "owe Greece" an agreement on the diminution of the country's public debt, "which is, surely, of grave importance".