It takes a big jump to cross a chasm
So far, the government’s stance on the Public Power Corporation, or PPC, has been indecisiveness. Now it’s uncertainty. The self-imposed deadline for the privatization of the electric power monopoly – namely July of next year – is fast approaching and, as yesterday’s interministerial committee on the issue made clear, the administration has not hammered out any clear plan for this vital reform. The solution of a strategic partnership (notwithstanding the advantages that the conservative government has itself advertised in the past, meaning the transfer of know-how and management) is losing ground to the PASOK-proposed blueprint of further privatizing the corporation through the stock exchange. David Lloyd George, Britain’s reformist-minded prime minister, once told one of his ministers: «Don’t be afraid to take a big step. You can’t cross a chasm in two small jumps.» If the government wants to follow through with the promised reform, it must take a big step rather than a bit-by-bit privatization.
