OPINION

Empty rhetoric resumes

On their return to the capital, Premier Costas Simitis and his aides are not likely to address themselves to their duties with a new bounce inspired by their seaside holidays. Rather, they will probably project a feeling of dullness welling from their machinations over the coming elections, or else a false sense of dynamism over how to implement their political vision. The annual spectacle of a prime minister returning from summer recess, typically saying that «it’s time for work,» inevitably repulses anyone listening. This is even more the case given that Simitis’s efforts will be spent on propping up a government that displays clear signs of fatigue, instead of striving to attain genuine progress. The vacuous rhetoric that over the past couple of weeks will soon resume: concentrating on our top national priority, preparations for next summer’s Olympics, which recently suffered a bad press due to the incompetence of the organizers. Simitis is expected to see Athens 2004 president Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki immediately after his arrival. The second focus of government rhetoric will be the economy. The premier’s aides tell us that economic progress is well on track, an assertion the PM will emphasize during his speech at the International Trade Fair in Thessaloniki. Finally, the government will praise the advantages of the UN plan for Cyprus’s reunification even while Turkish-Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash is pushing his goal of independence. All this will begin to unfold in the coming days, with the intention of attracting voters ahead of the coming elections. However, we have seen it all before. The protagonists have used up all their ingenuity, and the resumption of government work will not signify the onset of a newly creative course. Rather, it will be an ordeal for the average citizen, who will once again be subjected to the empty discourse of our political elite.

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