Dodging the blows
It is typical of governments that are being criticized for their performance – and especially typical of government officials more anxious about their own future than about others – to maintain that whoever is condemning the political leadership and drawing attention to certain problems wants to strike a blow against the government. This old and well-known approach is part of a «base political culture» exercised by no small number of political leaders in our country. So it is important to our political leadership, which presented itself as a significant reformist force many years ago, to avoid any potential setbacks – that is, not to address any real problems that remain unsolved or any unpleasant situations resulting from the (in)completion of government projects. Whoever embraces such subjects, revealing shortages, delays, mismanagement, neglect, ministerial failures, wants – for some dark and mysterious reason – to strike at the government which toils so hard for the prosperity of all Greeks. So, it would be preferable for Simitis’s «reformists» if the press would stop emphasizing that fulfillment of the current budget is not possible or that state expenditure is not in check; and that there be no mention of the fact that our productivity and competitiveness are exceptionally low for a European Union country, nor of the fact that our country is completely unprepared to participate in the eurozone because our government fell asleep after its election victory in April 2000.
