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The Hellenic Parliament by Kostas Tsironis/Bloomberg News
November 4, 2011. By Nicolas Mottas.
A few minutes have passed since the voting at the Greek Parliament regarding the confidence vote on government - 153 MPs voted in favor thus saving the government of George Papandreou from collapse. In his speech the Prime Minister pledged that he is ready to lead the procedure for the formation of a coalition government which will have a broader popular reception.
Wrongly, during the last days the public discussion in Greece has been focused on the "political consensus" which would bring a "national unity government" - an ecumenical government, as it had happened back in 1989. The question which therefore arises is the following: Does Greece need a political consensus and, if yes, for what exactly?
The question - as well as the whole discussion about a "national unity" - seems to be totally misleading. The major problem is not about the persons; it is about the policies. The anger and outrage in Greek society is not related about the person of the Prime Minister or the Minister of Finance - its about the governmental planning, the devastating austerity measures, the loss of national sovereignty, the ruling of the country by the IMF and Brussels. What will a coalition government decide upon? If its for the continuation of the financial occupation of Greece then its not only useless, but completely dangerous. The "national unity" has value only if it is expressed through the public vote; if it is formed in the corridors of the Parliament then it is simply a fraud.
The working people of the country, the lower and middle classes which consist the core of Greece's population, do not care about the name of the leader; they do care about the policies which makes them poorer and poorer. The strategic decision of making Greece the guinea pig of Capitalism's crisis is the core issue and, unfortunately, the major political powers agree upon it. Maybe they disagree in the "technical details" of the country's EU-IMF memorandum but they have lost contact with what really happens in society. How legitimate is a Parliament which is no longer representative of the popular will? That reminds me of Oscar Wilde's quote about Democracy: the bludgeoning of the people, by the people for the people.
The Greeks are fed up with the ruling elite of the country and with the arrogance of foreign leaders, such as Merkel and Sarkozy. In the end of the day, people's dignity is above Eurozone, bailouts and debts. That dignity can be restored by the Greeks themselves who have the right to decide about their future. No coalition governments, no changes in persons and definitely not the continuation of this neoliberal madness can provide any solution.
Published in Phantis.com.
