Tomorrow, Tuesday, there is another crucial ( the No 1,453 ?) voting that will take place in the Greek Parliament. The voting for the odious Property Levy that triggered outrage in the society. And not only. Quite a number of ruling party PASOK had to feel the strong pressure of their voters on this additional tax that amounts to several hundred or thousand euro on the shoulders of the average Greek household. According to Greek media, up to five PASOK MPs voiced their strong objections to the draft bill, two or three even threaten to quit. Such a move would severely damage PASOK and decrease its seats down to 152 or 151 in a Parliament of 300 deputies. Furthermore it would force it to change route and either accept a broader co-governance with other parties or call for early elections. But are Snap Polls a solution?
Public polls appearing in Sundays newspapers on Sept 25/11 showed that while 80% of Greeks believe that the Papandreou government cannot lead the country out of the crisis, 51% of Greeks oppose early elections. Furthermore, 59.9% does not choose neither PM Papandreou nor Samaras [head of major opposition party, conservative Nea Dimokratia] as the suitable for Prime Minister.
Greek politicians seem to have lost to a great extend the confidence of the citizens, even of their voters. Too many scandals, too many crises. And not only that.
“The problem with Snap Polls and a very short pre-elections period of 40 days hinders the voters to get in touch with the aspiring politicians”, writes Maria Katsikovordou in her Greek blog.
By the way, I was talking with a friend about this issue just yesterday. We came to the result that in fact it is the party mechanisms that push a politician to parliament and less the unbiased voters’ preferences. Can we say that “Snap Polls manipulate the voters?” Early elections have been carried out in Greece for the last … what 8 to 10 years? This government is supposed to ‘expire’ in 2013.
Maria is a young, educated Communicator, Writer and Blogger. She pities in her blog “The Lost Innocence of Politics”. It’s worth reading:
The lost innocence of politics
“Politicians avoid walking on the street, politicians afraid to attend events, politicians thinking of visiting their constituencies, politicians speaking for themselves on tv channels, politicians not talking with the people. Politicians have become strangers to citizens. Citizens have become strangers to politicians.
To become a politician one needs to have certain qualities such as rhetorical skills, courage to fight for the people, specialized knowledge … and the list can be endless … yet if one does not have this specific quality, he/she will never be a true politician in heart: love, love for the people. Love, nothing less. You do not become a politician for yourself, you become a politician for the others. For those who will meet with you, for those who will listen to you, for those who will believe in you, for those who will support their dreams upon you … for those who will see in you a piece of themselves they are lacking and will want to sent you, with the power of their vote, to the Greek Parliament, to represent them, to defend them and their dreams. And your job as an MP is to give your best for these people, for their benefit, for their welfare, for their future. As simple as that. But if you do not have this feeling deep in your heart, if you do not sense the responsibility, then don’t run for an MP. It’s not worth it. The people do not worth it. Not everyone can become a politician. Politics is not for all. Let it for someone else, someone who craves to serve his/her country, to serve others. Someone who will be eager to be among people, to listen to their problems, who will be glad with their joy, who will be sad with their sorrow, who will sympathize with them – a word so forgotten. Let it for someone who will vote on bills in the Parliament with each and every ones face and name in mind. For someone who will be able at any point to look them straight in the eyes.
The best “training” for a politician is not through a degrees or offices, but through an election campaign, something that in Greece lately we have forgotten. Ongoing call for snap elections, allows little time for the candidates to mingle with their constituents, to visit their regions and up to a great extend this is a major factor responsible for the alienation of the politicians with citizens. If you do not straggle, if you do not become one with your community, if you do not walk from door to door in every neighborhood, in every village, if you do not shake hands and smile to the people, if you do not take time to be with them, to listen to them, you will not be elected. And those who are politicians with the vote of the people know this well. They know they are in parliament because of these people and are responsible for these people.
Apart from the nonexistent election campaigns, even more technocrats enter politics year by year. We even reached the extreme of considering a government composed only with technocrats to be a solution that will lead us out of this crisis. I like technocrats, I think we need even more within our government, in management positions in Secretariat, as special advisers … yet technocrats are not politicians, they can never be politicians. The love for people, the concern for their families and their children has not grown in them…. they do not decide with citizens welfare in mind, with a communities happiness but with the end result, a numerical target, and these two people and numbers are not always compatible.
The next parliamentary elections in our country will most probably be called early, again! Once more, within 40 days we will have to know, to trust, to chose, to elect those we will need to trust our fate and the fate of our country upon, our MP’s. Within 40 days and under stress and with the fear of the crisis and the feeling of urgency “vote or as a country the end is coming”! For whom am I supposed to vote? Who are they I am asked to vote? Do they know me? Do I know them? Why am I called to forcibly vote under these circumstances, again? Moreover, one thing will be a given for the next government, that even more “technocrats”, even more non politicians will be included in it. Professionals, managers, experts in their field, but not politicians. People that don’t have in them the sense of what it means to be a politician, who are not accountable to voters, who do not have their faces and their names in mind when making decisions.
The innocence in politics has been lost because it is also lost in us, both citizens and politicians. Also lost is the love for politics, the love for people. We do not need another election in this country. We need politicians to elect. Let us, as a society, first find these politicians and then we can try solving all other issues.”
source: MouEkaneEntyposi.blogspot.com
