The issue of the day
It is so predictable that the «issue of the day,» which has been dominating public life and political exchanges, is none other than that of corruption in the handling of public finances and the government’s campaign to stamp it out. The paradox is that although there is not one citizen unaware of the lack of transparency in public life, people are showing an increasing indifference to the public clashes on the subject between the opposition and the government. This can be seen in the ratings attracted by televised debates focusing on the charges, investigations and reports. Indeed, watching such a debate, one can only wonder at the indignation expressed by opposition MPs (chiefly by implicated former ministers of the PASOK government) who argue that the new government «manipulated» investigations and «manufactured» files. These are, no doubt, the same individuals who did not hesitate to admonish New Democracy when it was in opposition by exhorting it to present evidence of alleged wrongdoing if it possessed it, and who accused ND of interfering with the course of justice whenever a prosecutor finally intervened… One also wonders at the reaction of politicians who one would expect to appeal to the judicial authorities if they had indeed been wrongly accused in order to clear their names and show up their detractors. Instead, they appear to be doing all they can to avoid this…
