Old tricks
July is on its way out, fall is not that far away anymore, and nothing particularly meaningful is happening on the political scene, despite all the exciting developments which the government led us to believe would occur after the expiry of its tenure of the European Union presidency at the end of last month. Of course, there is a lot of debate on various issues, but this does not mean that Greek citizens should expect anything apart from a mishmash of pre-election «benefits,» elegantly incorporated within the framework of a much-publicized «map for real convergence.» Everything suggests that the would-be counterattack by the political leadership is based exclusively on the best possible pre-election preparations it can muster, irrespective of the fact that the exact dates of the next general elections have yet to be determined. Naturally, it is illogical to assume that Prime Minister Costas Simitis could achieve in just a few months everything that he has been unable or unwilling to achieve since April 2000. What is obvious is that Simitis’s tired government has not been able to find a way other than the «tricks» we are witnessing to organize its counterattack. Hence the current promises for «convergence,» benefits, a new electoral law, and plenty of political propaganda conveyed through various means.
