Political stranglehold

After the dramatic waiting game of the last few days is the selection of the long-time vice president of the European Central Bank, Lucas Papademos, to head Greece's interim government a reason to breathe a sigh of relief? Is Greece now spared from bankruptcy, and the turbulence in the eurozone past?

Not a chance.

Papdemos may be a brilliant finance expert, but he wasn't actually chosen by national consensus. Three parties picked him, parties that have been damned to cooperation to avoid an absolute catastrophe at the last second.

Those parties are the governing Socialist PASOK of George Papandreou, the conservative New Democracy of Antonis Samaras, the largest opposition party, and George Karatzaferis's small far-right party, LAOS. In the coming weeks, these parties have to take responsibility.

But after the swearing-in of the new government, the parties will surely continue to lie in wait for new elections, which are scheduled for February 19.

The delays, the mistakes and the stalling practices of the three parties during the search for a 'lifeline for the country' demonstrated once again that the Greece's political system is obsolete.

It has spun into an endless circle of cronyism and self-serving interests that are gilded with empty, ideological labels. It's been that way for the past three decades. However, the debt crisis and the difficulties in the eurozone have uncovered the inefficiencies of this system over the past two years.

The unprecedented inability to meet problems head on and actively work on a solution has since then pushed a large portion of Greek society toward anger and despair.

These are not good conditions for the freshly-minted government of Papademos. The austerity measures that have already come into effect aren't effective - the rich remain untouched, the poor suffer, the bloated public sector opposes reforms, and the trade unions are ready for a fight.

In this climate of dissatisfaction it will be extremely difficult for an interim government to unite its fronts, win back the trust of its irritated European partners, fulfil the EU's demands and carry out the negotiations with the private sector regarding Greece's debt haircut.

The turbulence in Greece has only passed temporarily. It would be wise to fasten your seatbelt again.

Author: Spiros Moskovou / mz
Editor: Nancy Isenson