Ducking the tough decisions
A recent announcement that a committee will be formed in order to reorganize the prime minister’s office has not only come as a surprise but also illustrates two very important things. The first thing this piece of news shows is that George Papandreou, despite his insistence on pushing for early national elections last October, was in no way ready to take on the task of prime minister. The past few weeks have shown that the party had no plan concerning the staffing of the state mechanism nor one for how it was going to deal with the financial crisis. The fact that a committee has been included in the procedure also tells us that when the decision-making process stalls, the response is to form a committee and begin a new round of endless discussions and talks. It is high time that the prime minister decided how and with whom he intends to govern the country and what approach he is going to take with respect to the country’s economic recovery. He also needs to understand that open governance may be a good thing, but what the country really needs at the end of the day is strong decision-making and a clear administrative structure.
