When petty politics reign
The side effects of the endeavor to reform the taxation system have made it glaringly obvious that the government of Costas Simitis is so ensnared in petty party politics that it is unable to solve problems and fulfill its own promise of a second wave of modernization.This is not the place to analyze and evaluate the proposals of the committee of experts. There are certainly positive aspects to them as well as serious objections against. But it goes without saying that the current tax system is complex, administratively costly and ineffective. Thus reform is imperative. The way in which National Economy and Finance Minister Nikos Christodoulakis handled the matter was not of the best. It is unethical for him to officially present the committee’s proposals and keep his distance from them. In reality, he tried to counter public reaction without shouldering the political responsibility, apparently influenced by the bitter experience of former Minister Tassos Yiannitsis’s proposals for reform of the pension system a year ago. Christodoulakis’s maneuver was so blatant it was not only ineffective, but even boomeranged to a certain extent. But it would be misleading to focus public attention on this secondary matter. Nor is it right to focus on the fact that certain party barons who are incensed by the rapid rise of Christodoulakis to the top of the government hierarchy are making the most of the opportunity to harm him politically. The crux of the matter is that the Simitis government seems completely incapable of pushing ahead the reform that Greece needs and which the premier himself has promised. For some time now, the highest criterion has been to avoid incurring any political cost, and this has resulted in handling state affairs along populist lines. Of course, every government has an instinct for self-preservation which intensifies before elections. In all democratic regimes, the months leading up to elections are not deemed suitable for taking drastic measures. But in this case, we are still in the middle of a four-year term. Nine months before the municipal and prefectural elections, the decisions of the government should not be governed by electoral expediency. The country cannot tolerate such petty partisan self-indulgence. It needs radical solutions, not ones that have been cobbled together. It needs a government which is animated by the spirit of reform and is politically dynamic, not a weak government which confines itself to timid, everyday management. Simitis gained the leadership of PASOK after he had won the public over with his promise of modernization. Now he resorts to methods he has himself denounced, in the belief that this is the way to retain power. In fact, he is doing himself an injustice and at the same time undermining his political and electoral position, because he is disappointing powerful sections of Greek society who had put their trust in him.
