PASOK must pull together
Both the government and the ruling PASOK party seem to be on very shaky ground these days. First of all, it is becoming clear that only a handful of ministers believe that achieving the goals of the Stability Program is a matter of national importance. We have seen ministers with key portfolios either ignoring Greece’s predicament or openly undermining every reform drive. As if this were not enough, the parliamentary speaker is behaving more like a local politician than the unbiased coordinator he is supposed to be when he launches an attack against a top minister for basing his strategies on the advice of technocrats. It is depressing to see a government that is just a few months old presenting this kind of image, especially at such a crucial time for the country. Prime Minister George Papandreou has a limited amount of time in which he can reverse the situation and improve the state of his party and government. If he allows the situation to continue unraveling, the government will find itself unable to deal with issues at hand, to fight «the war,» as the premier himself has put it.
