For decades the Greek state and a succession of governments have tolerated heavyweights from various spheres of life who believe that they are above the law.

The people and the state have also had to put up with extremists whose only way of making their voices heard is through the use of violence and who have decided that they have the right to act outside the letter of the law and without any regard for the country’s democratic institutions.

Those days seem to be coming to an end as the government appears to have adopted a zero-tolerance policy vis-a-vis the lawlessness of the self-styled elites.

Developments over the last few weeks show that the government is determined to turn the situation around. We can only hope that this positive momentum will continue, because stamping out this kind of arrogance and disregard for the law and for order in this countery is the only way to ensure that Greece once more becomes a proper democracy.