WANTED: Opposition Leader
Have you seen this man? I didn’t think so. Neither has most of Greece. He is the president of PASOK…the opposition party in Greece. It’s not as if he hasn’t had anything to oppose in the last year and half that New Democracy has been in power. Karamanlis has given him enough ammunition but he does nothing with it. His face has been noticeably absent from the media. No interviews on TV regarding his future plans for Greece. No soundbites about the Ano Liossia garbage mess, the bank strikes, or even the over generous payouts Karamanlis saw fit to give to useless OTE employees. Nada. Not so much as a blip on the media and public radar. I would love to know what’s holding him back from doing his job. If he expects to have any hope of winning the next election then he must at least prove that he’s at least cognizant of the problems Greece is facing and to keep New Democracy on their toes. As far as I can tell, the only opposition facing Karamanlis and his entourage comes from within his own party. Militiades Evert, former ND president and prime minister, has dug up some dirt on the recent bank pension reforms. This is work that he shouldn’t have had to do. Papandreou should have found it. Could he be afraid of skeletons still left in the closet during his party’s 20 year reign in power? If Papandreou tries to grill Karamanlis regarding his recent spate of unpopular decisions, then quite possibly Karamanlis would only be too happy to make them public. Or maybe Papandreou just believes in the proverb that if he gives Karamanlis enough rope, he will eventually hang himself.
