PM needs to bite the bullet
George Papandreou has been repeating the same mistakes for the past year and a half. He is very slow in making big decisions, he finds it hard to implement them, he is having trouble imposing his will on members of his own government and he still has to explain to the country?s citizens what needs to be done.
It was the same on Friday. Addressing his ministers in a cabinet session that was broadcast live on state TV, the prime minister avoided elaborating on the government?s midterm fiscal plan for the 2012-15 period, which is designed to save Greece 23 billion euros.
Even so, Papandreou announced a series of privatizations and spending cuts in the public sector. Now comes the hard part, as he has to convince the government, his party and PASOK?s old guard that all this must be done. After that, he will have to implement these decisions with help from a team of decisive officials. Papandreou has little room for maneuver. The real economy is disintegrating, his international image has been tainted and this is his last chance to put the country back on track.
