New York (ANA-MPA/P. Panagiotou) – Main opposition PASOK party leader and Socialist International President George Papandreou, shortly before making an address on the “economy for peace and security” at a conference being held here on Friday night, called on the world’s 20 economic powers to follow rules.

“The Socialist International’s message to the 20 economic powers of the world that will be meeting in Washington tomorrow is very simple. We want rules,” he said.

“We demand that growth and the economy must focus on man. The crisis cannot be shouldered by the citizen, while others are given blank cheques and huge amounts of money,” Papandreou added.

Speaking at a conference on the economic crisis, security and prospects appearing at global level in New York’s New School, Papandreou stressed that a solution to the economic crisis is surely not a technical issue, despite the fact that one should view technical aspects. Papandreou said that basically it is a political issue and concerns the most basic global values and options.

“It is essential for us to resolve the current crisis in a way that strengthens citizens, peoples, our societies so that we will be able to handle effectively, fairly and in a sustainable way the terrifying planetary changes,” he said.

The PASOK leader went on to say that globalisation must be for people and from people, adding that “we need a democratic change for a democratic global governance that will safeguard the participation of the weak, the poor, the middle class, the small and medium-size enterprises and the productive forces of the world.”

Papandreou further said that “what do we see? Instead of global solutions our problems are worsening with the economic crisis that has revealed a big problem, the amazing accumulation of money by the few and that is only paralleled, of course, by the accumulation of the strength of the mass media that has led in turn to the concentration of political power and, at the same time, to the corruption of our democratic institutions.”