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Anastasia Balezdrova

Greece exiting the euro zone will be the new Asia Minor catastrophe

 Anastasia Balezdrova

Two weeks after the political turmoil caused by George Papandreou’s decision to hold a referendum and the resulting new transitional government of Lucas Papademos, the Greeks are already starting to recover. Although the polls conducted show that 73% of the people have a positive attitude towards Lucas Papademos and their expectations are high, a great number of Greek citizens show distrust towards the new cabinet as its composition has remained almost unchanged. Some believe that Lucas Papademos is the man able to lead Greece out of the constantly deepening crisis. Others think that he is the tool for imposing even more severe economic measures, while a third group complain that the cabinet involves representatives of the far-right party LAOS.

GRReporter has sought the opinion of Professor of Political Sciences Athanasios Diamandopoulos to explain the Greek political system and the public response after the government in the country has been changed.

Mr. Diamandopoulos, how would you define the new government of Greece?

It is the expression of a small glimmer of hope after the country has long attempted to live outside reality or its burden. The hope is related to the fact that this cabinet was imposed against the will of the political leadership from the new standpoint of the press, when things reached their crucial point. And because, as I say, the country has felt the wings of death, the press has begun to use a voice different from the usual voice of irresistible demagogy and simple solutions. It has started to speak in a way closer to the actual data in this country and its voice has echoed in society. A public pressure has been created, expressed by parts of the parliamentary groups of the two major parties. This is also something positive: For the first time, what I would call an equivalent of stupidity and stupid alignment with each paranoid or opportunistic position of party leaders has been broken. We have seen how the political system, even based on the self-preservation instinct or on the sense of responsibility, has responded to unreason.