“After them, the flood”: new Greek government with old stock; ND & PASOK run out of party officials

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Politics

I really do not understand Greeks, especially Greek internet users, I mean. They have been claiming since the new government was announced last night, that we have a government of trolls. Yes, those famous annoying interneters surfing around the internet, starting an argument for the sole purpose to upset people. Many of the new ministers are known through their television appearances, defending the government decisions, shouting in the face of their opponents, twisting the realities and avoiding giving reasonable explanations. Others have been  pulled out from the dusty history shelf after been quiet and absent for several years.
The former loan-agreement critics turned to enthusiastic supporters of the Troika. But everything “in the name of serving and saving the country” – same old story as usual. The new guards are expected to apply all Troika demands. there where the ministers of ND-PASOK-DemocraticLeft failed.
And yet,  this old staff is expected to re-start Greece with new ideas. Mission impossible!?

We have a new coalition government consisting of conservative Nea Dimocratia and (ex) socialist PASOK.  At the June-17/2012 elections ND ranked 1st with 29.66% and PASOK ranked third with 12.28%.
In all public opinion surveys after the elections, ND is usually still first in respondents’ preference however with 22-24% in an average.
PASOK is going from bad to worse, pending between 7% and even 4%.
In the new government PASOK has 11 ministers and ND 30.
But we got a government, we deserve. Same old people with the same ideas saying and doing the same things.

Anyway, these Greek internet users see with growing suspicion the fact that the new government -41 ministers and deputy or alternate ministers – consists of people it should not have been consisting of should Samaras put the ground for groundbreaking restart of Greece.
-6 members of the government are journalists (Kedikoglou, Kapsis, Panagiotopoulos, simos Kedikoglou, Gkioulekas, Andrianos)
-7 members of the government are sons and daughters of ex high-ranking party officials (Mitsotakis, Varvitsiotis, Kefalogianni, Gennimata, Kapsis, even 2 members from Kedikoglou family. We call these families that feed the Greek political scene with promising country saviors as ‘political fireplaces’. In the sense that no matter what, the fire of the family keeps burning …
-some other members are long-time fellow-travelers of PM Samaras, since the time he overthrew Mitsotakis government in 1993.

Irony in 2013: the son of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, Kyriakos, is now member of the government in the Ministry of Administrative Reform. The ministry that is urgently expected to comply with the Troika demands and to kick out of the public service at total of 15,000 civil servants until the end of 2014.
and you know what? These mean Greek internet users claim that it is now the high chance for Mitsotakis family to overthrow Samaras government. Tsk! What do they know?

-some members had their names involved in … but never mind.
Everybody is clean now. PM Samaras appeared in a unifying mood and distributed government seats among his ‘enemies’ from the Karamanlis or Mitsotakis front.
Much to my knowledge Venizelos – now deputy PM and Foreign Minister – did not grant supporters of Papandreou with government posts.
Luckiest Government member
… Zeta Makri (Nea Dimocratia). She did not enter the parliament with the June-elections ticket. But she was sworn-in MP on April 1st 2013, when Athanasios Nakos passed away. she was not named ‘minister’ but she was appointed deputy health minister when ND-MP Sofia Voultepsi resigned two hours after her appointment.
New ministers, new luck
The new government was sworn-in today at 12:30.
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras set the main goals of his new government for the next three years as: economic recovery, unemployment decrease, attract investors.

New coalition slogan: The government cannot miss a minute of work

Critics and political enemies claim that this government will not survive the end of the year. Others claim ‘democracy was replaced with heritable oligarchy’.
As claimed in the beginning: trolls…
Mainstream newspaper  To Vima said it more polite:

“A government of 42 members with bipartisan representation in ministries with no particular reform stigma product of  bargaining and balances within the parties.The dominant characteristic is the recycling of persons.
The new government is facing enormous challenges, but many questions arise because critical ministries are considered to have weak leadership.”

PS problem is also that with this government constellation  Nea Dimocratia and PASOK have run out of first-class party officials.
Paraphrasing Louis XV of France …”Après eux/elles, le déluge“