Continuity must follow consensus
In the wake of the riots that swept Athens and other Greek cities in December last year, Greece’s conservative administration made a serious effort to reorganize the country’s police force, which was, admittedly, in very poor shape. The first signs of progress are already evident. The arrest – the first in several years – of four terrorist suspects for recent bomb attacks against a former minister and a prominent opposition lawmaker confirm the improvement. The new government that will emerge from the October elections, regardless of the party in power, must do everything to avoid the fatal mistakes made back in 2004 and build on the progress of the past few months. Certain fields, such as public order, for example, mandate political consensus and continuity as regards maintaining policy. The state simply cannot afford to keep changing the structure of departments and the persons holding key posts each time that there is a change at the ministry or the party in power.
