Bankrupt model
The snowballing revelations over the stock market gambling by deputies and Socialist cadres during the boom period as well as disclosures that these people received electoral donations from a well-known business circle confirms what had until now been discussed behind closed doors but never stated in public: namely that the model of governance followed by Prime Minister Costas Simitis has come full circle. It would have been better had there been a reaction to what ordinary citizens had long diagnosed before domestic politics degenerated to their present condition. Unfortunately, it takes a strong shock for the complacent politicians to awake to reality. It is not hard to see that the country needs new politicians, armed with new policies. Even if it won a couple more four-year terms, Simitis’s PASOK would never dare carry out the much-needed radical policies… In order to change the environment and the mood of both employers and employees, the government must implement a series of political measures. These need not be particularly groundbreaking ones, but rather policies that all European states are now examining: a more attractive labor relations model, a daring reform of social security, and a revision of tax legislation that will provide more business flexibility and cut through the red tape inside the public sector. These are some of the policies which, combined with a fresh administration, could power the wheel of the Greek economy.
