By Alexis Papachelas

One of the rules in politics is that the bigger your ego, the harder you fall. Or so the experience of two conservative ministers seems to demonstrate. As a result, voters often point a finger at the swollen self-aggrandizement of politicians who overestimate their powers.

What are the symptoms? First, the posturing. Last year a friend attended a pre-election party thrown by a senior minister at a central Athens hotel. They knew each other from university and my friend thought of him as a clever, moderate man. He was disappointed to see that the man had turned into something completely different. “I’m not quite sure how to put it to you. but the man walked different; he greeted the crowds like he was some kind of Andreas [Papandreou],” were his exact words. The minister in question, most seemed to agree, certainly saw himself as the next party leader. He could see no other alternative in the post-Karamanlis era; he succumbed to the flattery of his aides and eventually fell into the same-old trap. Instead of focusing on state affairs, he went for the media game: meetings with journalists, endless consultations with image makers and spin doctors, a passion for political gossip and showing up at every big or lesser event.

Society – and Greek society in particular – has a unique ability to debunk everything. When they realize that a minister has failed to deliver, they will punish him once if he does not provoke more. Or they will punish him 10 times if that minister seeks to fool them or offend them with his nouveau-riche style.

We are once again hearing those cadres who like to complain that “things are not going well, and the only solution is to…” What they really mean is “I am the solution.” but they leave this to other people to say in order to win some backing. Greece would be better off if these people spent less time in hotel function rooms and publishing houses than at their offices meeting with staff so as to get the real picture.