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Greeks are ready for change, but tired of government inefficiency

22 December 2011 / 01:12:29  GRReporter
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Given the internal party bickering tearing apart PASOK, which is the key player in the Greek cabinet and the frequent outbreaks of various opinions in New Democracy, the views have become more frequent lately that the end of the two-party system in Greece is coming. Do the Greeks support such an option? "Not only today but even a year ago, we reported trends in the emergence of new political formations. Let me explain with an example: When a diabetic gets a low blood sugar attack, the person needs sugar. However, does this person have to eat something sweet? Of course, he does not. In this sense, people feel that there is a lack of leadership in Greece. They understand that the political system, which they asses with a negative rate of about 70 per cent, is not effective. Therefore, because people reject it, they say they prefer something new. This something new, however, does not necessarily have to come from "pure birth" as we very well know. To do this, we will need to go through a revolution, i.e. this new thing should come from the streets or from abroad, or to talk in terms of today, the media should not find skeletons in the trunks of this new form of government. But it takes time to build something new, otherwise we have to go the way of Argentina. I recently had a discussion with the Minister of Economy in 2001 - 2002 Domenico Cavallo. Argentina experienced such processes, but there were 42 victims until it got to the point at which both major parties were dismantled and it reached today's government. However, we are not in this situation. We can use our own perception, for which there are no specific data, but we report it in indirect ways. I would like to add that when people are scared, they seek stability rather than new things unless they have already passed to the opposite bank and now, they are looking for anything. I think the Greek has not reached that level; we are still looking for stable things. This explains the choice of Lucas Papademos. He was not unknown to the Greek public. We knew very well who he was, what he was in Greece, what positions he held abroad and we chose him precisely for his abilities to administer certain situations. Therefore, the Greek is rather seeking to create an intermediate stage of some familiar, forgotten, worthy "materials" until the country manages to stand on its own two feet and when this happens, to seek a new and revolutionary solution rather than to proceed directly to it. Nevertheless, if things in the country continues to evolve in the same way, and leaves the eurozone, etc., then such a scenario is probably possible."

The dynamics, which the Movement of Discontented in Athens and Thessaloniki had gained shortly after its appearance, gave impetus to the proponents of the idea of ​​the full twist to believe that they were able to achieve it. Although it was one of the first in the world, the Movement of Discontented faded. I asked Dimitris Mavros what the reason was for this outcome. "In May, when the movement was at its climax, we conducted a survey of the discontented. We detected the presence of two main features. The first was that the movement had no internal structure at the level of political ideology. This means that it involved supporters of all political range and this made it difficult for them to understand each other. There were moments when the people up the square were talking about one thing and those down the square were talking about something quite different – i.e. only the general problem connected these people. The second feature is the belief of the people, which is the main reason why they are not out on the street in the expected scale. "Nothing will change whatever I do. We have to go through all that is happening now," responded 66 per cent of them. Therefore, we could say that people let things take their course. To this, I would add the feelings we have reported recently in the results of the latest trends. The first feeling is anger, which mobilizes people and makes them go out in the streets, and disappointment. It is one of the indicators of letting things take their course that I mentioned. It is not easy to stir up revolutionary process in such a mood among people, although when we ask whether they expect a rebellion in the future, 70 per cent answer positively. However, we reported this result in the last year but this rebellion has never occurred."

Dimitris Mavros’ answer to the rhetoric, which has intensified during the last period, that if left forces in Greece manage to unite they could make their own government, is definite. "In September, when the government was still stable, Domenico Cavallo asked about the sum of left-wing parties in Greece. I answered that the centre-left rhetoric in Greece might take precedence, but in reality, it is a deeply conservative side, developing in this way. A separate issue is whether the left is ready to start governing, but in any case, we cannot ignore the fact that this discussion is in the public space.

Tags: SocietyPoliticsPollDimitris MavrosGovernmentChange
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