The leader of the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK), George Papandreou pledged to take immediate measures to bring the country out of economic crisis.

The pledge was made during his major annual political address to the Thessaloniki International Fair on Saturday.

Within its first 100 days, his government would pass laws to slash waste, grant relief to businesses and households and boost public investment as part of a three-year stability and growth plan, Mr Papandreou said.

“It’s time to roll up our sleeves and all work together,” said Mr Papandreou, who hopes to bring PASOK back to power after more than five years in opposition.

“The country can come out of this crisis and the economy can return to growth and create new wealth,” Mr Papandreou said. Greeks must choose between “cutbacks” and “investment.”

The PASOK plan includes a one-off “solidarity” payment, measures to protect lenders and indebted households, a one-year freeze on price increases for public-sector utilities, a one-year grace period for those companies unable to make loan payments and “radical tax reform.”

PASOK won’t impose new taxes on low- and middle- income earners, according to Mr Papandreou, and won’t increases taxes on companies.

PASOK will abolish tax breaks for companies, impose a low tax rate on retained earnings to encourage investment and reform real estate taxes so that large property owners, like the Church of Greece, paid a just amount.

PASOK would increase public investment to 4 percent of gross domestic product in the first budget it tables, subsidize pension contributions for young workers to encourage companies to create jobs, increase unemployment benefits and introduce “radical reforms to combat waste in public finances he said.

In response to the proposal by Greek Prime Minister, Costas Karamanlis, to freeze public sector pay and accelerate privatisations to contain public spending and cut the national debt Mr Papandreou said his opponent’s policy would be catastrophic.

“If we freeze wages now, we’ll just freeze the market,” Papandreou said.

The proposals by Mr Papandreou have drawn strong responses from the Left of Greek politics.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) said that Papandreou had confirmed for the umpteenth time that PASOK was ready to “attack” the incomes and rights of the people, and was treading the well-known road that serves the interests of the plutocracy, hand-in-hand with ruling New Democracy (ND).

KKE said that there are two paths to growth. The one is represented mainly by ND and PASOK, and is the path that brings financial crises, whereas the other path is represented by the KKE and encapsulated in the slogan “Alliance for popular power and economy”.

The Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) accused Mr Papandreou of having put forward general and ambiguous positions which failed to convince the public that the “new PASOK he proclaims will not be the same as the PASOK we already know”.

SYRIZA accuses Mr Papandreou of attempting to present as progressive a deeply conservative set of policies that will only widen the already big regional and social inequalities.

The ultra-nationalist Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) party, in a brief announcement, described Papandreou’s appearance as being reminiscent of his father (the late former prime minister and founder of PASOK) Andreas Papandreou and that his plans were made up of many promises without adequate explanations.

His appearance was that of a man struggling to achieve his goal without knowing how to do so, according to LAOS, and that his plans were “like changing a bicycle chain while in motion on the rise of a hill.”