Winds off Allagi

Papandreou would end an era

In the slums of Piraeus and the village cafes of Crete, in shipowners' salons and bouzouki bars, one word pulsates across Greece like the rhythm of a sirtaki dance: allagi (change). Many Greeks are passionately frightened of allagi, others are hoping for it, and a vast number do not know quite how to feel about the prospect. Six million voters will decide the issue on Oct. 18, when they either reconfirm the conservative New Democracy Party that has ruled Greece for seven years or bring to power the first Socialist --and openly anti-American--government since the end of World War II.

Fiery Andreas Papandreou, 62, leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), has a solid chance to win a majority in the 300-seat Parliament now dominated by Prime Minister George Rallis' New Democracy Party. If he does, allagi will be felt not only in Greece but in Western Europe and the U.S.

Trying to attract middle-class voters, Papandreou has toned down some of his earlier stands, but they are still anti-NATO and anti-American. Papandreou once favored Greek withdrawal from NATO; now he says the step should not be taken until Greece can defend itself, a long-term prospect, at best. He sees Turkey, his country's traditional rival, as the main threat, not the Soviet Union. His election would probably widen the split between Greece and Turkey, and thus further weaken NATO'S southern flank. Papandreou used to demand that the U.S. abandon its four bases in Greece* now he would allow them to remain if Greece could close them at will. Instead of insisting that Greece get out of the European Community, he would now decide the issue by national referendum.

Ironically, the man who remains so anti-American has close personal ties to the U.S. He sought refuge in the U.S. in 1940 after being jailed for leftist activities.

He earned a doctorate in economics at Harvard, taught at Minnesota, Northwestern and the University of California at Berkeley. He married an American, joined the U.S. Navy and in 1944 took U.S. citizenship.

Only in 1963, at the urging of his father, George Papandreou, then leader of the Center Union Party, did Andreas--as he is familiarly known to all Greeks--return to his native land and develop an interest in politics. Shortly thereafter he renounced his U.S. citizenship. Says Athens Publisher Helen Vlachos, a longtime foe: "His is the anti-Americanism of an American, not of a Greek. He is like a Viet Nam War protester of the '60s."

Papandreou's chances have been boosted not only by his new moderation but by the fact that he is calling for change at a time when the nation is restive. Explains Adam Pepelassis, governor of the Agricultural Bank of Greece: "The Greek who ten years ago was riding a donkey and now drives a second car wants change to continue. There has been individual emancipation but not institutional change. The educational system, banks, the church have lagged behind." Actress Melina Mercouri, who is running for reelection on the PASOK ticket from the same Piraeus district in which she never worked on Sunday, points toward the harbor from her penthouse in Athens' posh Kolonaki district. "Can you imagine that almost within sight of us there are thousands of people living without running water, without proper sewage, with very little medical care?" she asks.

Papandreou is also benefiting from the fact that the New Democracy Party, created by Constantine Caramanlis, 74, when he returned from his Paris exile after the downfall of the military government in 1974, appears tired and worn.

Concedes an incumbent minister: "We've lasted too long."

Rallis, 62, is a colorless but competent politician who became Prime Minister in 1980, when Caramanlis moved up to the presidency. He has tried to fright en audiences with predictions of the chaos that would result from a PASOK victory.

Labeling Papandreou a Marxist-Leninist, he warns: "The slogan allagi covers the most dangerous subversive efforts with a shroud of mysticism."

To avoid being accused of meddling in Greece's internal politics, the U.S. has remained studiously neutral. But NATO'S commanders are not so circumspect. Says an officer assigned to the Southern Command: "If Papandreou does what he's said he's going to do, it could be a considerable threat." Supporters of the present government are hoping that the forceful Papandreou may have peaked too soon.

Says a Rallis lieutenant: "They may be tired of us, but they are afraid of him." qed

* The bases service NATO craft and monitor communications in the eastern Mediterranean.

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