Building a cross-party platform
Efforts to build a cross-party platform regarding the burning issues facing the country must not stop here. Despite the collapse on Wednesday of talks between Greece?s two biggest parties over the formation of a union coalition, Prime Minister George Papandreou and New Democracy leader Antonis Samaras must show that they can reach an agreement on some basic issues.
Papandreou must prove that his comments about consensus were not fireworks and cooperate with the conservative opposition leader, adopting some of his proposals to reboot the economy. For his part, Samaras should offer support on several difficult decisions regarding privatizations and paring down the country?s state sector.
Similar backing is needed in organizing and staffing an organization that will oversee the requested privatizations so that the campaign will not be reduced to an exchange of accusations and scandalmongering. An agreement between the two sides, even on some basic issues, would enhance the credibility of our political system at home and abroad.
