It was supposed to be a mega political show: the leaders of seven political parties with representatives at the Greek Parliament should stand Question & Answer to journalists from seven television channels. The leaders would have the chance to unfold their positions about crucial issues that trouble the average Greek voter like the economy, the unemployment, the refugee crisis, the health care, the this and the that.
The good intentions of all concerned parties – journalists & politicians – ended up in super yawn live debate that lasted four long hours.What did the public earned from this debate? Not too much most likely due to the overcrowded panel both on the political and media front. One question, seven different answers? Nobody could take notes…
“I wasn’t able to keep in mind even a single sentence by any leader” Niki told me and said that she turned off the TV after she spent half an hour trying to make sense of the positions of the several political parties.
“So boring. They kept talking and talking and I couldn’t make any clue. I switched off and watched a film on pay television,” Eleni stressed in a similar tone.
Giorgos told me, he phoned a friend and they both went for a beer. He watched the debate for one hour. TV-zapping was senseless as all networks were broadcasting the debate.
The panel was well organized, the moderator was good, the journalists prepared and so were Tsipras (SYRIZA), Meimarakis (New Democracy), Koutsoumpas (KKE), Genimatta (PASOK), Kammenos (ANEL), Lafazanis (Popular Unity) and Theodorakis (To Potami). Michaloliakos (Golden Dawn) was not even invited. Apparently due to the legal issues and the ongoing trial against several of the high-ranking officials and lawmakers of the party.
The problem was that no leader managed to make the difference, make a proposal that would be worth noticing, attract the viewers’ attention even for a while.
The debate came and passed, it turned out the most interesting point of the evening were the users’ comments on social media.
“The parties have nothing important to say, Greek politics sucks,” Eleni summarized in just a few words a point of view shared by quite a lot of Greeks nowadays. The 50-year-old woman was a loyal PASOK voter for three decades, but cast a vote for To Potami in January elections. “I have no idea for which party I will cast my vote,” she says, just ten days before the elections. “I will have to seriously contemplate on that,” she assures me.
Giorgos is undecided too although the ex SYRIZA voter tends to cast a vote for Lafazanis’ Popular Unity. “I cannot but vote for the Left, but which Left… I cannot reward Tsipras for what he did, I will punish him.”
Anna says that she will again cast a vote for SYRIZA “in order to give Tsipras a second chance.” But her friend objects this saying “A second chance? He was the Prime Minister, he was the government, not in a company of friends chatting about politics in a cozy taverna.”
Conservative Alekos consider to cast vote for Leventis’ Centrists’ Union. Alekos was voting for New Democracy for many years but he turned his back to the party due to bailout agreements and austerity cuts. “Mainstream parties are all the same,” he notes.
A debate between former prime minister Alexis Tsipras and main opposition leader Vangelis Meimarakis is scheduled for September 14th. This may attract more audience…
PS anyone still wonders why Greek people lost interest in politics?
The best thing Greeks could do is show the world what would happen if they held an election and nobody showed up to vote. Choices are looking slim – democracy can only happen from where it started – Greece. Stay home, lock all the doors and windows. Refuse to vote. If nothing else it will prevent EU from getting the government they want again. I still think they wanted Tsipras because they needed a “left” politician to push through more austerity on the already devastated Greek public. Now they want you to give them a mix of parties so you will never know what thier next proposal will bring, except you can be sure it will NOT be helpful.
True!
Stultifying!
So, you have a room full of politicians with one of two distinctions; they either voted at some stage to sell the country down the drain (don’t forget that PL happily supported the previous government and only started “acting” AFTER they helped pass the “prior measures”), or they have a track record of absolutely nothing.Yu have a panel of journalists who for years pampered to those very same politicians instead of doing their journalistic job and questioning every move those politicians made/make.
And you expect a proper, hard hitting debate??? Who is fooling who…
I personally did not expect anything. therefore I didn’t watch for more than 15 min. 🙂