The illicit interests holding us hostage
All the observations made by the president of the Public Power Corporation (PPC) in yesterday’s interview with Kathimerini are unlikely to elicit much of a surprise: They are either familiar or expected realities. Nevertheless, they are issues that no government official has dared to publicly address. But the chief of the country’s largest public utility dared to do just that. And his comments merely serve to consolidate the fact that our country is trapped in a mesh of illicit interests. It is precisely this network of illicit interests that prevents our country from escaping from its current immobility and pursuing the path of development by harnessing the creative forces of Greek society. The whole system of entangled interests, financial scandals (such as the stock market bubble of 1999) and countless instances of unbridled profiteering (notably by various banks) chiefly afflicts the lower and middle classes of society and generally serves to dampen the national potential which could otherwise have become the driving force behind productive initiatives and the establishment of a healthy competitive environment. The «ensemble» which is luring the Public Power Corporation into a dance of decline operates on all levels of public life and, hence, is harming society at all levels and in every area. It is basically the noose which is strangling our country. The protection network which perpetuates this ensemble, as well as an underground form of cross-party populism which allows it to operate freely in many fields, can be plainly seen. It remains to be seen who can rescue us from this situation.
