By Stavros Lygeros

A suicide attempt is more than rare in Greece’s political history.

People naturally thought that there must be something serious behind the act. They found it hard to believe that the Culture Ministry general secretary’s affair with his assistant could be the sole reason for it. Most suspected an economic scandal. Investigation so far has come up with some controversial if not reprehensible decisions – but nothing too grave. So the thing that angered Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis and prompted Christos Zachopoulos to try and kill himself must be something else.

One assumption is that the notorious DVD contains comments that insult the premier. Whether they hold or not, such comments gain plausibility because they are mouthed by a friend and colleague of Karamanlis. Their publication would cause a great deal of damage. No state official wishes to become the subject of nasty political gossip.

Zachopoulos’s sins, for which he punished himself, could not alone spark the ongoing crisis. It’s the government’s childish handling that has allowed the case to gain such magnitude. It’s sad, but at a time when Greece is faced with huge internal and external problems it has been severely shaken merely because a short-term contract state employee wanted to avenge or blackmail the general secretary who is also her lover.

But there is also another side to the story. The government’s antics have opened a can of worms, exposing the murky dealings between politicians, the media and business barons. But the crisis could also help purge the political system of corruption. Perhaps a weak and clumsy government is welcome in the sense that it makes our democracy milder and more tolerant. But there has to be a limit. Even the anti-establishment forces are choked with anger.