Feeble opposition?
To operate properly, a country not only needs a strong and solid government but also a strong and solid opposition which knows what, and whom, it stands for. Up until March 7, we knew what PASOK wanted – to do everything it could to hold on to the power it had become accustomed to over the last 20 years and which it regarded as the only source of its political hegemony. But following its election defeat, the party’s lack of clear ideas, goals and popular support became all too evident. This weakness had existed for many years before that, but it had been concealed by the party’s focus on exercising power. The same party cannot be an effective opposition, however, without the aforementioned ideas, goals and popular support. The list of PASOK’s candidates for next month’s European elections seems to reflect all the party’s internal problems – ideological, political and organizational, issues of cohesion and political orientation. The «radical renewal» pledged by PASOK chief George Papandreou appears to be an excuse that was resorted to after it became clear that there was no other serious solution. And so we were presented with this colorful but politically lackluster group of candidates who are to represent the opposition party in elections to the European Parliament… But renewal is not just about a few new faces. It is chiefly about political ideas and the goals of political action…
