Opinion
. ..It would, indeed, be useful if Prime Minister Costas Simitis could explain what he expects from the altered government. He will, anyway, have to do this when he addresses Parliament to lay out his new program and orientation. Simitis should also reveal the tasks he will assign to the new ministers. We are not referring, of course, to those endless programs, which are full of good intentions, had one of which been implemented Greece would be now unrecognizable. We are referring, rather, to basic things that will enable him as well as us, the public, to control whether he is doing his job. The government shake-up should also be a prime opportunity for Simitis to dare implement some changes in the structure and the function of the new government. He should try to abolish all the subcommittees of the government and form a smaller and more substantial Cabinet. He should announce competitions for the posts of all ministries’ general directors and force the ministers to employ new figures, on meritocratic criteria, with readjusted wages and obligations, that will be controlled by the responsible officials in the Parliament. Finally, Simitis should take advantage of the reshuffle to form two or three committees that will be under his supervision, for examining and proposing solutions to big issues such as public administration, the educational system, and reorganization of the institutional framework for business activity.
