The Rebelion of the Greek youth has abated, but this does not mean that we have seen the last of it.
Greece has found itself in the same predicament as most of the European nations, where the two main parties, the socialists and the conservatives, have failed to deliver. Greece's long standing problems in education, inadequate infrastructure and social care have been exacerbated by the current Conservative government of "New Democracy" that has produced only impressive scandals ranging from the looting of pension funds to the grabbing of millions worth of state land via some labyrinthine deals with some corrupt monks of Mount Athos. The problem is aggravated by the fact that George Papandreou the leader of the Socialist Party (PASOK) cannot stage an effective opposition, first because of his hypotonic presence and second because this party does not enjoy any credence with the Greeks, as what it accuses the conservative government of doing is exactly the policy that PASOK implemented in the twelve years up to 2004. Add to all these problems the current global economic crisis which has started to strike hard on the tourist industry. This state of things cannot but result in a justified sense of impasse in the case of the Greek youth.
Greece has found itself in the same predicament as most of the European nations, where the two main parties, the socialists and the conservatives, have failed to deliver. Greece's long standing problems in education, inadequate infrastructure and social care have been exacerbated by the current Conservative government of "New Democracy" that has produced only impressive scandals ranging from the looting of pension funds to the grabbing of millions worth of state land via some labyrinthine deals with some corrupt monks of Mount Athos. The problem is aggravated by the fact that George Papandreou the leader of the Socialist Party (PASOK) cannot stage an effective opposition, first because of his hypotonic presence and second because this party does not enjoy any credence with the Greeks, as what it accuses the conservative government of doing is exactly the policy that PASOK implemented in the twelve years up to 2004. Add to all these problems the current global economic crisis which has started to strike hard on the tourist industry. This state of things cannot but result in a justified sense of impasse in the case of the Greek youth.
The present government is in as state of confusion and is doing absolutely nothing about these problems. They just passively see the events and wait for the youth's rage to peter out at some point...
Note that the present government has three more years to go...
Last week Prime Minister Karamanlis dismissed Mr. Karachalios, one of his closest policy advisors, because in an inerview he said that the Prime Minister didi not know what to do about the havoc caused by the youth rebelion. Previous to that the Financial Times wrote that it was rumoured that Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis was being treated for some depression.
Well, what can one say, but that no one is at the helm of this country when la prevision de la meteo is that gale winds are coming!
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