One fiasco after another: Can the Mitsotakis government meet the demands of the times?
As time goes on, the government seems to be losing its stride on a number of crucial issues.
So, the question arises immediately: Can the Mitsotakis government meet the demands of the times and address the issues arising from the critical juncture?
National issues, the refugee crisis, the crisis in Greek football, a series of catastrophic – as it seems – choices in Public Insurance, Education, and Health, instances of intraparty insubordination, ex-Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ backstage actions and a host of other issues have rapidly revealed the government’s inability to tackle them.
In the field of foreign policy, Greece appears too powerless to follow recent developments and play a substantial and regional role by reinforcing its position within a juncture, in which the Eastern Mediterranean basin is engaged in a game of “Stratego” involving major powers and Turkey. Instead of the role our country was supposed to play at the present moment, it goes through one fiasco after another: The visit of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the US has resulted in a diplomatic tragedy. Athens was excluded from the Berlin Summit on Libya and sought a way in through the “chieftain” diplomacy, that is, through Field Marshal Haftar. The appeasement policy against Tayyip Erdogan, who is scouring the Eastern Mediterranean, has not worked, and it is accompanied by ridiculous excuses, such as that the Oruç Reis entered the Greek continental shelf due to the weather.
Within the country, the government is facing a series of deadlocks that it has itself created. The crisis caused by Deputy Minister of Sports Lefteris Avgenakis, in addition to reaffirming the government’s close relationship with shipowner Vangelis Marinakis, has sparked widespread reactions, extending throughout Greek society and the political system.
Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ reluctance to comply with Mitsotakis’ threats of deletion, if intraparty discipline was not followed during the voting – scandal for Greek football, disclosed the government’s most serious internal problems and awakened memories of 1993.
Greek society is in turmoil and various social groups, one after another, are aggressively turning against the government in the fields of Health, Education, Public Insurance and Agricultural Policies.
Political analysts and political figures of the country note that the tolerance and patience of Greek society will soon be exhausted. Political actors estimate that the government is bound to face the impasses it has created. While the government had promised an “investment boom”, investments are stagnating. It had promised to exhaust its efforts against the Prespa Agreement, and today it is being demonstrated that New Democracy had committed itself to a crescendo of pre-election populism and hijacking of votes. It had promised to deal with the refugee crisis immediately, abolished the Ministry of Migration Policy and today seems unable to cope with the growing problem, while having caused derision from Europeans, due to its decision to “install” a 2.7km floating barrier at a 15.000km coastline.
It is evident that the Prime Minister’s decision on the snap election will soon be finalized, not only due to the electoral law, but mainly because of the government’s incompetence to meet the demands of all the critical issues of our time.