DICTATORSHIP IN GREECE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19217, 5 January 1926, Page 9

DICTATORSHIP IN GREECE.

PANGALOS IN CHARGE. GJiAiATIO AMKOUHCEKEHT TIRED OF POLITICIANS. , j RELIANCE ON ARMED FORCEj « TASK OF SAVING GREECE." Vy Teleo anh—Pre?? Association—Copyright. (Herrived 8.5 p.m.) A. tirul N.Z.—Sim. ATHENS. Jan. 3. General Pangalns, the Prime Minister of Greece, has proclaimed a Dictatorship in Greece. The announcement was made at a banquet given by the Republican Guard in honour of General Pangalos and three other members of the Cabinet. The Mini*'er for Foreign Affairs and the Minister for the Navy were not present. When the announcement was made the com|>:iny jumped to their feet and cried, "Long lis-e the Dictator." In responding to tho toast of his health, General Panga os eulogised the ae'ion of the Greek Army during the last, decade. He declared that the revolution ir 1009 was a fruitless one, because the Parliamentary system caused tho Greek power to wane. The revolution in 1924 I whs only a partial success. It failed to j ensure healthy politics.

"From to-morrow I will assume all responsibility for tho country's condition," continued General Pangalos, "and shall rely on the armed forces to assist tny task of saving dreece." General Pangalos is issuing a communique to-morrow announcing the plans of the Government. Meantime he has postponed the Senate elections. Tho Republican Guard paraded the streets after the banquet acclaiming General Pangalos. When interviewed by the Athens correspondent of the Daily Express, General Pangalos declared :—"Parliamentary Government is the cause of all our troubles. I am at the end of my patience with politicians, who lose no occasion to make trouble for the country. "Our fleet in a few months will be j tho mistress of the basin of the Eastern j Mediterranean, and our army will be j one of tho strongest in the Balkans. For j the realisation of our programme we shall j rely solely on our armed forces." The Daily Mail correspondent in ; Athens recalls the fact that General j Pangalos was president of tho courtmartial which in 1922 ordered the execution of M. Gounaris and five other exMinisters. During his Premiership his rncthods have been those of a Dictator. He has suppressed the liberty of the pross and freedom of speech, and has filled posts in the State Army with his own friends. Ho also dissolved the Assembly because it .criticised his Government. Recently there has been much speculation regarding the possibility of the oxKing returning to the throne. Since General Pangalos made his announcement it has been ofiicially explained that the postponement of the Senate elections sine die is due to iTTe fact that certain party leaders persist in giving them a political complexion, which would thus defeat the Government's object, which is to obtain a cessation of the increasing political tension.

General Pangalos was the leader of the revolution that took place in Greece last year. This is the seventh upheaval of the kind that has taken place within the last 26 years. General Pangalos is a well-known firebrand. He had previously been Generalissimo and War Minister. He failed in 1923 in an attempt to establish himself as a Republican dictator. A more favourable opportunity came in June last. At five o'clock on the morning of June 25, soldiers and naval men, under the leadership of General Pangalos and Admiral Hudjikyriakos, seized the public buildings in Athens, after a f ado of blank cartridges, and secured the resignation of til o Michalalocopoulos Government, declaring their uetermination to end maladministration and reform the finances. The fleet joined the garrison, and the officers formed a military Government under the Presidency of General Pangalos and took possession «f all civil and military institutions. In an ultimatum, General Pangalos asserted that the National Assembly was incapable of meeting the. situation. It was stated that the revolution was precipitated by the Government's decision to accept General Kendylis' advice to _ take energetic measures to restore discipline in the army, beginning with the arrest of the leaders of the unrest. General Pangalos and his supporters thereupon decided to strike without furtner delay. The following proclamation was issuer! by General Pangalos: The erring Michalalocopoulos Government has been overthrown. In spite of that Cabinet o resistance until the last moment no drop of fraternal blood has been shed, as the revolution has the approval of the great majority of the Greek people, the army, nnd «>e fleet. In addition to internal reorganisation, I will endeavour to organise rapidly a national force bj which' alone the country s interests can be safeguarded. With full consciousness of the internal and external difficulties which face the-State to-day we set to work full of faith and hope for our success, of which our past is a guarantee.