PASOK leader Papandreou meets Venizelos

[Ellinas]

Prominent main opposition PASOK deputy and recent leadership contender in the November 11 inner-party elections Evangelos Venizelos met on Thursday with leader George Papandreou.

"I have asked for this meeting, which, unfortunately, has not taken place for two-and-a-half months after November 11, because we must at any cost avoid PASOK's introspection in a particularly crucial conjuncture for the country due to a collapsing government," Venizelos told reporters after the meeting.

"The citizens demand a lot of things from PASOK and we must respond. I was and I will remain a guarantor of the party's unity," he added in an indirect response to press speculation regarding a split in the party.

"All those who try to invent so-called internal enemies are seriously harming PASOK and its prospects," he added.

In statements later to the press, PASOK Spokesman Yiannis Ragoussis said that for leader George Papandreou and the party "the only opponents are the problems and the inadmissible, anti-popular and counter-development policy of this government."

"PASOK should advance forward united and powerful," Ragoussis said adding that one "assumes his responsibilities through his statements and mainly through his actions."

ANA