OPINION

Premier must draw the line

Greece is on the brink of financial ruin, yet the country’s political leaders appear to be living in their own little world. The government claims that it is determined to slash the deficit to 3 percent over the next three years. But at the same time, we see certain of the ruling party’s members doing everything in their power so that parliament employees can continue enjoying their scandalous perks and the provocatively high allowances of others stay at present levels. The prime minister needs to draw a line so that everyone in his party and the government understands that he means what he says. So far, George Papandreou has yielded to pressure from many fronts against cutbacks and has shown that he may not have what it takes to extricate the country from the crisis. Things, however, are only going to get tougher and the government will be faced with many difficult nuts to crack in the very near future. If it continues to retreat from its position at every push from a strong lobby or interest group, it may feel that it is pleasing the public but in the long-term it will be faced with the toughest challenge of the country’s modern history.

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