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Several days before the crucial summit of the European Union, which will take final decisions on the settlement of its public debt, Greece is reeling from social unrest, the government's existence is hanging on a thread awaiting the results of the parliamentary vote for the new economic measures and all are expecting early elections, regardless of how the country will arrive there.

GRReporter turned to Haridimos Tsoukas, Professor of Strategic Management and Organizational Sciences at the Universities of Warwick and Cyprus, to analyze the situation in the country.

Mr. Tsoukas, how would you comment on the political events in Greece?

What I see, following the political events in Greece, is that the Parliament has always been called on to vote from an unprivileged position. I.e. each time when taking important decisions on bills proposed by the government, it is doing so under the pressure of exceptional dilemmas, and each time they are more negative than before. In June, and at present, the dilemma for the lawmakers is that if they do not vote the bills the country will go bankrupt, will not receive the fifth or sixth tranche, etc.

I know how pressing the dilemma is but my requirement is that the lawmakers rule in a way that does not allow them to take a decision under the pressure of events. If in the period from June to October we had pulled ourselves together and done the job, most likely the dilemmas before us would not be so pressing. In any case, when the country is forced to make decisions under such pressing and almost extortive circumstances, I am not sure that these decisions are the correct ones. The reason for this lies in the fact that it is hard for us to make the necessary changes that we have been obliged to make. The main reason, I believe, lies in the fact that those who govern do not have the mentality of governors. They are not able to make the changes that will put them against themselves. Therefore, their behaviour is hypocritical. They say "yes" to our creditors, and when they have to implement the promised measures, they do not do it. This reduces the reliability of the Greek rulers to foreign factors, thus reducing our credibility in our lenders' eyes. As a result, they increase the pressure on us to make the changes that they believe in and most of them are actually correct. However, the pressure to which they subject us is devastating and this creates many problems.

In recent weeks, different professional groups have been on strike, but during the last two days the country has not been functioning effectively. How would you define that?

It is filled with symbolism. I think the fact that Athens has become an enormous landfill where waste bags are floating in the streets when it is raining is a symbolic expression of the general decline of the country and it is becoming a country of decay. This is very sad. We are rushing headlong down on a vertical spiral. I picture in my mind a train, the driver of which has had a heart attack, but the train is still running and no one is able to stop it. Unfortunately, the government does not have the ability and vision to put an end to this movement.

You know, all the people who are protesting and are not necessarily around the parliament at this moment, in your example could be the passengers who are calling the driver to get off in order for another driver to get on.

That is correct. You see, the protests should not seem strange to us, because each social group is defending their interests. When your salary and pension have been reduced, it is very logical to respond. Those, who advise the citizens not to protest but to think of the common good, give them very paternalistic advice. For me to be able to put aside my own interests, someone should be able to inspire me to do it. I mean that the issue mainly concerns governors. I understand the people and their reactions and I would say that it would be strange if they did not respond. However, we are not talking about an academic seminar in which different opinions are exchanged. This is a threat to the living conditions of many people. In this sense, I understand the protests, but I also understand the frustrations to which they would lead, if they do not transform into a new perspective for a new government.

Let me put it another way. There is no way not to suffer. It is practically impossible. Whatever choice we make: whether we abandon the euro or haircut the debt by ourselves or make a voluntary haircut, each of these options is more negative than the next one. All have a painful price; therefore, we cannot avoid pain. But to be able to endure, we need hope. And this is something that is not provided today to the Greeks. This, I think, is the biggest failure of the political governance.

In recent days, an unsuccessful attempt to achieve national consensus was made. What is your comment?

I was not surprised at all. The behaviour of our politicians is completely predictable. Consider George Papandreou and Antonis Samaras. I would not talk about the left, they live on another planet. From the moment that these two men have formed their political behaviour on an immense rivalry, they are no longer able to convince anyone, nor can they give up the things they are already bound to. The political system in Greece has never learnt to create consensuses; this word is simply not part of the vocabulary of our politicians. Hence, the call for consensus now is just rhetoric, propaganda and communication. It has no responsiveness.

That is why I said it was predictable for me and unfortunately, it shows the decline and the small chance of the country to be ruled by two parties, each of which is worse than the other. At no point in their political activity, have these two parties put the national public interest against their party interests. Their present position shows exactly what they have done in the last 30-40 years.

For some time, there has been a general feeling that early elections are approaching? What is your assessment?

I think it is quite certain that there will be early elections. When a democratic state cannot be ruled as is the case of Greece now, what else remains? We need a government equipped with a fresh expression of popular will. There is no other option in terms of democracy. You cannot impose policies that people deny. You need to have a minimum level of agreement on the part of voters.

The results of recent polls show that it is most likely that New Democracy would be the winner. But everybody is commenting on what would happen after the election and what the country would go through then.

This is something we cannot know. Indeed, it is most likely that New Democracy would have the greatest number of votes. I very much doubt, indeed I even think it would be impossible for this party to be able to establish self-government. And fortunately too, I would say. It should not be able to form its own cabinet to compel parties to cooperate. However, I think we cannot just transfer the current conditions to the future. I think the crisis acts as a catalyst for awareness and eventually, there will be new political formations.

I understand that elections are a factor of uncertainty. It is a fact. But this is an uncertainty that we cannot avoid. It is like wanting to have a tooth out without feeling any pain. This is impossible. Policy itself causes uncertainty, especially in times of crisis. But the bet is precisely here: to deal with uncertainties in a creative way. That is why I am saying that I am expecting to see new political formations; to see political parties commit themselves to cooperate if they fail to draw up a coalition government. If these questions are put to the Greek people, whatever government emerges after this, it will have a very different legitimate basis from today's government.

Do you think the Greek people are ready for such changes?

I think that no one is ready enough. This is an ongoing process. But the fact is that we are more mature than we were last year and the year before last. In my opinion, despite the protests, which have been very intense over the last two days, people have understood that things are very difficult. Therefore, they are ready to accept the new severe measures, but they feel the need of hope the government will give them. The big bet is the way they should use politically all this discontent politically. In Greece, we need new leaders and formations. We need people who are not in the first line now, but who will have to take the leading role to find creative expression of the excitement, fear and anxiety of the people. This is the essence of politics: How to turn our creative excitement into a political act.

Of course, I cannot be bound to a specific forecast, because this election will not resemble any of those in the past. In a crisis, electoral competition will not develop the way we know. Many politicians will not even dare to appear in public. Everything is different. And here all who consider themselves active citizens have to intervene in the most appropriate way to enable the Greek people to express their will in a more creative way.

Are you optimistic about the future of Greece?

Yes and no. I am not optimistic about the near future. This decade is lost to Greece. If we look at things as external observers, we will see that it will take the country ten years to get back on its feet. The conditions will become more difficult before they get better.

I am optimistic about the distant future, because the bubble of the false world that was created in Greece after the restoration of the democratic system in 1974 has already burst. Unfortunately, its blow caused much of a fuss. The crisis shatters self-delusions, it pops balloons, driving us to concentrate, to think about fundamental matters related to the political and public life in the country, about which we did not think before. For example: what the role of the state is, how big the public sector should be, issues of probity in public life, corruption, confidence in institutions, etc. These fundamental questions have arisin for the first time and I think they will find their answer in the future.

As for the near future, I am pessimistic and I think that, by all means, we should avoid the worst scenario which is leaving the Euro zone. This should be our "red line". If we don't cross it, we can achieve everything else despite the difficulties. But this takes time.