Fables and foes
…The independent MP Stefanos Manos, who was elected on opposition PASOK’s ticket, made an interesting proposal about store hours recently. Manos believes major department stores should operate with fixed hours, while smaller shops could remain open 24 hours a day – «like street kiosks» – to compete with larger stores. But the idea irked PASOK, who saw it as an indirect dig at the party. Nevertheless, the Socialists failed to present any arguments deconstructing Manos’s proposal, instead resorting to petty politicking. «PASOK is no street kiosk, it’s a supermarket,» PASOK deputy and former culture minister Evangelos Venizelos quipped. He was followed by his fellow deputy Anna Diamantopoulou who, during a radio interview, referred to Denmark’s appointment of Manos to promote Hans Christian Andersen in Greece this year (which is dedicated to the famous author of fairy tales), intimating that Manos himself had been spinning some tales. The next day, Manos submitted a copy of «The Emperor’s New Clothes» – Andersen’s parody of political hypocrisy – in Parliament for debate. Diamantopoulou proceeded to invoke Aesop’s fable about the Crow and the Fox – about the folly of vanity… PASOK’s opinion on Manos’s proposal about store hours was notably absent…
