Parliament has managed to deal with its pending issues without overstepping the mark or departing from the constitutional framework. Thank goodness. After the summer recess, we will follow them up with an inquiry into the OPEKEPE agricultural funds scandal, followed some time later with a trial regarding the Tempe rail accident.
Still, we can’t ignore the surprisingly frenzied and unbearably toxic climate in which these processes took place, given why and how this atmosphere came about.
On the surface of things, the explanation is simple.
The opposition is clearly throwing everything it has at dragging the government into some kind of defeat. And, equally obviously, the government is doing all it can not to lose.
So far, so good. The institutions are suffering no harm from the insults being hurled by the two sides, and democracy is not being strained by the hysterics. The professional “worriers” are wrong to be concerned.
In theory, the frenzied toxicity is an understandable reaction. Both the government and the opposition have resorted to extreme name-calling and tit-for-tat accusations, with little regard for the facts of the issues at hand.
In fact, their behavior is impossible to justify. In many cases, there is no actual issue at all. Above all, though, none of this is benefiting anyone.
The result? All the polls indicate falling support for the government, which is only to be expected after six years in power. More surprisingly, though, they show that the opposition is losing ground, too, and at the same rate.
It is a feature of democratic systems that no government is actually put to the test politically until someone arrives on the scene who can credibly challenge not just its authority, but also its position.
Right now, the polls and ordinary citizens agree: a genuine contender for power has yet to appear.
Rather, the multitude of small and medium-sized challengers that have emerged pose more of a threat to the dignity with which parliament goes about its business than they do the government. While their jostling for position explains much of the frenzied toxicity. No one wants to cut a less impressive figure than their neighbor.
All of this would be perfectly reasonable and understandable if there weren’t still 18-19 months until the elections. And if, in the meantime, we are finally presented with someone capable of taking control of the game.
Of course, there are certain former Prime Ministers who have declared their willingness to return to public life. Except that, with things as they are, no one seems to measure up to the job.
I read somewhere that Antonis Livanis, a man of vast experience, used to say you need three things to form a party. A leader, money and organization.
But I’m afraid he missed out the most important thing: they need supporters to vote for them.
