A pitiful model
Those who disagree with the Annan proposal for Cyprus «are aligning themselves with Ankara and (Turkish-Cypriot leader) Rauf Denktash, who are exercising a separatist policy in the Cyprus issue.» Those in Greece who disagree with the government’s policy of strongly supporting (without first giving it serious thought) Turkey’s «European» policy, are, in the view of the «reformists,» old-fashioned nationalists, and dyed-in-the-wool «Turk-haters.» Those who discern scandals, entangled interests, delays, overspending and shoddiness in public works are simply «mud-slinging.» Those here who are seriously concerned about the current state of Greece’s economy and the enormous weaknesses in the production process have bad faith and succumb to «danger-mongering.» (Naturally, when the same comments are made by various bureaus of the European Union, this is not viewed as «mud-slinging» by Prime Minister Costas Simitis and his government, who in the latest case have maintained a humble silence.) Generally, anyone in Greece who does not recognize the high standard of government and Simitis’s great works since 1996 – who does not ignore the protests, the mistakes and the delays in certain government decisions – is in no position to understand the «new age» and has not adapted to the «new realities.» Our political leadership, since its enthusiastic declaration of reform in 1996, has degenerated into a government without imagination and with narrow horizons. Its leaders are conceited politicians who cannot bear to lay themselves open to public criticism. Fortunately, Greek society still has enough strength left to resist the model of authority a group of «comical» politicians are trying to impose.
