Deadly fires dominate Greek political debate

Critics: Government unprepared
But many said authorities’ response to the crisis had been disorganized.

The government “has been woefully unable to deal with the major issue of the fires all summer,” said George Papandreou, the main opposition socialist leader. “Unfortunately, it didn’t even manage to save people’s lives, their property and their homes.”

The government’s suggestions that the fires were the result of an organized plan of arson caused confusion and anger.

Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras implied Sunday that a deliberate plan was in motion.

“We can say that this truly constitutes an asymmetric threat,” he said without offering any specifics. He said the Secret Service and anti-terrorism squad had joined police in investigating the blazes.

Karamanlis also implied arson was to blame, saying Saturday it could not be coincidence that so many fires broke out simultaneously in different areas.

Socialist party spokesman Yiannis Ragoussis accused the government of “trying to create a Sept. 11 type of climate” by implying Greece was facing a terrorist threat. “It is in fact a communications strategy” for election day, he said.

President asks for 'maturity'
The political squabbling drew an indirect barb from President Karolos Papoulias, who urged his fellow Greeks to show “maturity.”

“It is a national tragedy. We all know this and it is the duty of all of us in these times to show maturity, to face this tragedy,” Papoulias said.

Some people blamed the catastrophe on a previous government’s decision in 1998 to transfer responsibility for battling wildfires from the forestry department to the national fire department.

“We used to have one service that fought the fires where they broke out, and a second that focused on protecting homes,” said Nikos Bokaris, head of the Panhellenic Union of Forestry Experts. “Now there is nobody in the forests, and the fire brigades take up positions in village squares and streets.”

But by the time the flames reach a village, the fire has grown too much, he said.

“The fires must be confronted where they break out, and immediately,” he said. “If a whole hour is lost then the fire grows beyond control, and I very much fear that the current blazes will only go out when they have burnt all the way to the sea.”

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