The country doesn’t deserve more woes

As the world becomes more dangerous and unpredictable by the day, we are trying hard to prove the maxim of one very experienced observer of all things Greek: That Greece never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.

The specter of political risk has suddenly appeared over the country, just when Greece was one of a handful of examples of political stability in a Western world rife with political chaos. Analysts and investors who know what Greece can be like could hardly believe it. We had elections not so long ago, with a very clear result and no political milestones or foreseeable obstacles on the horizon. Alas, we Greeks are very good at causing a storm in clear skies. The government admittedly did everything to accomplish this. It set the bar way too high for the European elections, it started with the contradictory leaks and rumors about who will be the country’s next president way too soon and, last but not least, it made a huge, hasty and unnecessary fuss about some possible agreement with Turkey – and a half-baked agreement it was too, not to mention that it never would have made it past Parliament. To top it off, it passed a law with a significant political cost just before the European elections, without having made sure to control the fanfare, ignoring a fundamental rule of politics: that when you take correct yet controversial measures you should do so in a way that does not alienate your voter base. In short, since the last elections, it has acted as if it has no political strategy and no composure.

Then the two former prime ministers came along, without any trace of self-criticism about their own tenures and with amnesia about what they once thought of each other. It appears, unfortunately, that ruling New Democracy is, yet again, a party with different groups calling the shots and family cliques that every so often become locked in a power struggle. A serious ND cadre was asked once why he was vehemently opposed to ex-prime minister Antonis Samaras given that he had helped him beat Dora Bakoyannis, the sister of the current prime minister, in the party leadership race. “What are we supposed to do? Allow ‘them’ to take over the party?” the cadre answered. Politics, they say, is ultimately about the personal and the local.

The real problem, however, is what the country and the Greek people, who have already been through so much and are now struggling to make ends meet, have done to deserve all this drama. The overinflated egos, insecurities, hysteria and vendettas of various prominent players have turned politics into fodder for speculation and rumor.

Greece is at risk of political uncertainty over a president who has no real authority and an agreement that someone conjured up while playing Stratego at home alone. The country has been through so much; it does not deserve any more woes just because certain people can’t control their whims. Those who bear a heavy responsibility for the past and those who govern only by reacting to the last message from someone or social media posts need to start thinking about this.