The word ‘normalcy’ has been absent from the Greek political dictionary since autumn 2014. Furthermore, ‘business as usual’ is an expression not applicable under current circumstances. The distribution of responsibility is clear. PASOK and New Democracy should be blamed for the maladministration from 1981 until 2009 and for the poor management of the crisis from 2009 until 2014. SYRIZA should be blamed for manipulating public opinion in a period of relevant recovery, for imposing capital controls and seriously hitting Greek national economy.
The day after the election of 20 September 2015 will be particulary difficult for Greece and its citizens. Irrespective of the winner the new coalition government will have to impose austerity measures and implement structural reforms. Entrepreneurship should be fostered because this is the only way investments can come to Greece. If SYRIZA – a party traditionally based on statism – wins the election, it should immediately adopt this logic and avoid the catastrophic illusions it created in the first months of 2015. If New Democracy wins the election, it has to practically apply its entrepreneurship rhetotic in a transparent way creating equal opportunities.
As far as Sino-Greek relations are concerned, the new Greek government will have to elaborate on a 3-Year Action Plan to promote bilateral inititatives. This is an idea suggested by the previous SYRIZA-Independent government but was not specified. Chinese companies are still waiting to invest in Greece. But they will not do so should the next Greek government fails to provide guarantees for long-term political stability.
‘Business as usual’ is the only thing Greek politicians can and should offer in order to serve the national interest. It is enough with fake promises and nice words.
George N. Tzogopoulos
