In a recent comment, Stefanos Kasselakis referred to his defeated rival for the SYRIZA leadership, Euclid Tsakalotos, by his full name, but to his chief rival in this Sunday’s runoff, Effie Achtsioglou, by her first name only. She’s just Effie to him.
The Bank of Greece estimates that 60 billion euros of income goes undeclared every year, while every study carried out in the last decade sees the shadow economy at a similar level of 30-50% of gross domestic product.
SYRIZA’s spectacular rise in the 2012 and 2015 elections was the result of anger over the country’s economic demise and its consequences, as a large section of society driven by the notorious shirker’s mentality became enthralled by the vulgar populism that prevailed at that time.
Democracies thrive on opposition – it is their distinctive characteristic. Forty years ago, a senior British minister, days before an election, commented that he thought landslide majorities were a bad thing because, on the whole, they did not produce “successful governments.”
SYRIZA has a debt to social media. For years it exploited the polarization expressed there and tried to inject it into public life. The party’s constant toxic campaign was judged at the polls, but its consequences did not stop there.
The surprise lies not so much an unknown young man presenting himself as the savior of our politics, but that he nearly achieved his aim of being elected leader of the official opposition in the first round of voting.
When you argue with someone – whether it is an innocent exchange of views, or a clash of substance – you must understand how important and influential that person is to handle them accordingly, as well as their weaknesses, in order to be able to exploit them if necessary.
In the 1937 movie “A Damsel in Distress,” Fred Astaire sang for the first time Gershwin’s song “A Foggy Day (in London Town).” Two lines in the lyrics, “I viewed the morning, with much alarm / the British Museum had lost its charm,” suddenly became very timely.
The Greek government’s intervention in the short-term rental market was anticipated with great interest by three interested parties: small property owners who advertise them on platforms like Airbnb; hoteliers who complain about unfair competition in the tourism market; and ordinary citizens who are looking for a home and cannot afford today’s prices.
The political rumor mill adores gossip and, of course, conspiracies. The appearance of newcomer Stefanos Kasselakis, who arrived from the United States, was bound to ignite people’s imagination.
OPINION
