Student movement is a political catalyst
There has been a lot of talk from ministers about «urban guerrilla warfare» and other such nonsense that, frankly, is an insult to our intelligence. We have witnessed many disturbing spectacles, such as the sight of riot police blasting tear gas outside the Athens courthouses to disperse the relatives of youngsters being tried there for alleged involvement in last Thursday’s riots, and the mass arrests of students who had simply been participating in a peaceful demonstration. There have been plenty of activities contributing to the further radicalization of the movement by university professors and students and transforming it into a catalyst for political developments. Meanwhile, the government appears to have learned nothing from the crushing defeat it suffered in its attempt to reform the Constitution; it has not realized that the student movement is a self-sufficient force and marks the radicalization of a new generation. The militancy and sheer longevity of the students and teachers’ protests have contributed to the crumbling of political and social alliances that the government has carefully cultivated. The unwavering persistence of the students in their mission and the heavy-handedness of riot police, who have been filmed beating students, may satisfy the hardcore conservative voters but they cannot secure a broader acceptance of the government’s approach to reforms. «No reform can be implemented without securing consensus… this crisis will be deep and extended,» the senate of the National Technical University stressed in its decision to reject the education reforms proposed by the Education Ministry, which are now law. «Polemic declarations and incendiary statements do not help matters. We are not against the Greek people. We too have children who are students and brothers or sisters who are teachers,» a top-ranking Greek police official said yesterday. On a political level, the student movement has blown open all the obvious – and hidden – government alliances on a series of issues. Also, crucially, it has deprived the government of the support of PASOK chief George Papandreou and his opposition party on the issue of education (PASOK walked out of the debate in Parliament). Meanwhile Synaspismos Left Coalition, under the leadership of Alekos Alavanos, has advanced further left than the Greek Communist Party (KKE) as regards its relation to the new, radicalized factions of the student movement. This development, combined with the constant pressure from the extreme left, is putting extreme pressure on KKE to abandon its current position and adopt a more aggressive stance opposite the government on all levels. These political realignments do not favor the government.
