And Then There Was One

"The days of the revolution are over for good," sighed one of the ex-colonels in the original military junta that took over the Greek government in a 1967 coup. "From now on it is just Pa-padopoulos." The ex-colonel was not exaggerating. Last week, in an abrupt and major reorganization of his government and Cabinet, Premier George Papadopoulos, 52, removed all power from the other junta members and left himself alone at the top. The last two of the original partners in the Papadopoulos takeover, former Brigadier Stylianos Pattakos and former Colonel Nikolaos Makarezos, were given deputy premierships with no ministries and little of substance to do.

The Cabinet will be made up of apolitical professors, engineers, lawyers, an architect and one retired general--and only one former member of the abolished Greek parliament. Why did Papadopoulos make his move? One reason might be to regain the lost confidence of foreign investors; another could be a step toward politicization of the heretofore military regime. By establishing a political party, so the theory went, and perhaps calling a snap election some time next year, Papadopoulos might be able to assure himself of another five years in power. But, then again, there were reports that Papadopoulos had obtained the consent of some hard-liners in the Greek army by promising that there would be no nonsense about reinstituting democratic elections in the near future.

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