Karamanlis Re-Appears to Back New Democracy

Former Prime Minister and previous New Democracy Conservative leader Costas Karamanlis, who disappeared from the political scene after losing the 2009 elections, has shown his face again at the behest of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to support his party publicly ahead of May 25 elections for municipalities and the European Parliament. Karamanlis said his party is the best bet for voters as Samaras is pushing that the Conservative – who, along with their coalition partner the PASOK Socialists brought the country to near-economic ruin by wild overspending and runaway patronage – can now bring stability and recovery. Karamanlis, whose administration was blamed for lying about the state of the economy, forcing then newly-elected Premier and PASOK chief George Papandreou to ask for international bailouts that came with harsh austerity measures, said only New Democracy could now safeguard “the country’s necessary political stability.” Media reports earlier said that Samaras, whose party is locked in a tight battle with the major opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), would appeal to Karamanlis to do something to support the party even though the former Premier has been blamed for helping cause the crisis with an ineffectual administration. Karamanlis stepped down as party chief in October 2009 after suffering a landslide defeat in Parliamentary elections. He has since stayed out of the public eye, making few statements although he occasionally sits at the back of the Parliament where he is still a lawmaker. He has taken no blame for the economic crisis.

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