Are we voting for candidates or colors?
Greek political parties seem to view Sunday’s local and regional elections simply as a next step from the national elections and a step before the European polls. In the last few days the serious problems facing the municipalities – big or small – are taking a back seat and the important message from the parties seems to be whether blue, red or green (the three colors representing the ruling conservatives, main opposition SYRIZA and socialist PASOK) will dominate Greece’s political map. In short, the parties, once again, are measuring their strength.
There’s nothing unexpected in all this; this is how political bets have always worked. It would seem at least naive to expect a reversal in party and voter intentions on October 8 or 15. Natural disasters, environmental, climate and other urgent issues also seem to take on an ideological hue.
Now, if this dependence of mayors and regional governors on the parties leads many potential voters to the beach or the coffee shop instead of the polling stations, it is of little interest. It is the feeling that “nothing can be done, it is wasted effort” which permeates people’s minds vertically and horizontally. Low turnout is a risk for Sunday’s elections, which grows as various candidates organize and threaten us from prisons.
Whether it will “increase the government’s arrogance” is not a valid counter-argument for choosing political grouping A or B, and neither is whether mayoral candidate A or B will be more or less a “servant of the Prime Minister’s Office,” or if they will serve citizens.
The proverbial complaint box in a region like Attica, which contains people’s demand for mundane but necessary work in infrastructure and maintenance, such as laying roads and sidewalks, cleaning storm drains and streams (the Kifissos and Podoniftis come to mind), has been filling up for years now, and instead of emptying even a little, from one local administration to the next, local officials simply buy a larger one to withstand more of their inefficiencies.
The question that arises is which mechanism of the state evaluates and inspects the local and regional rulers, judging the inadequacy and demonstrating their opacity? Who makes sure that the necessary timetables in various projects are stuck to? Citizens should be concerned about whether the mayor fixes the sidewalks, not whether they are green, red or blue.
