ND accuses government of enlarging state sector

Main opposition New Democracy on Wednesday accused the government of actually acting to enlarge the state sector and its operating costs, in spite of its announcements about pending lay-offs and abolition of state agencies to restrict state spending.
Despite its promise to reduce the state sector, the government had in the last 20 months created 41 general and special secretariats, legal entities and independent services, ND spokesman Yiannis Mihelakis claimed. At the same time, it was constantly putting off the abolitions and mergers of organisations announced officially, he added.
He said the government had abandoned a plan initiated by ND for the abolition of roughly 250 state-sector organisations, while abolitions of some 30 such organisations announced a year earlier had failed to materialise.
“There is only one conclusion to be drawn. Those in PASOK cannot escape their bad old selves. They were the ones who created the top-heavy state of the trade unionists. Their own party interests have swollen the state. Their own party’s interests are preventing its reform,” he added.