A reformist party?
If anyone paid any attention to Costas Simitis’s speech at Tuesday’s PASOK Central Committee meeting, it would probably to express their disappointment – a disappointment felt by every Greek who was expecting the prime minister to say something of some political interest. Instead, his speech was full of inadequate political arguments, wretchedness and stubbornness – and it was boring. Even during the current period, which is so critical for Greece’s economy and its major social problems, at a time when the government is receiving dozens of warning signals from all sides, the only thing the prime minister can find to say is that he is right about everything, that he has always done the right thing, and that whoever fails to realize this is maliciously opposing him and wants the worst for our country. No wonder there is such tension within the ruling party. How can its members be positive when the there is no progress on the major unsolved problems, when they witness the daily disenchantment of citizens, when they see their leadership turning its back on a reality it doesn’t want to face? However much of a «reformist» a member of the ruling party wants to be, how can he possibly approve of his leader and prime minister when all the latter does is praise himself and his six-month stint as president of the European Union?