Greece often seems to be teetering between launching itself into the abyss of self-destruction or dusting itself off and getting on with things. These are moments when anger prevents us from thinking straight and makes us act with excess emotion and passion. In these times of global madness, it would presumably be easy for Greece to collapse into ungovernability and chaos.
The citizens put their trust in Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after SYRIZA’s dangerous antics because they believed him to be a politician with a technocratic mind who could guarantee a few basic things
Greek society has become quite adept at avoiding disasters, however; perhaps it’s because it had such a close call a decade ago. We have matured. But this does not mean that society’s anger is going to go away. The mass gatherings for the Tempe rail disaster accomplished the impossible: They brought together the people who voted “Yes” and those who voted “No” in the 2015 referendum, those who defend inertia and those who want the country to change faster and more effectively. People who have never marched in a demonstration walked for kilometers to join the rally in their city or town on Friday. They may not have liked some of the placards that seem to feature at every anti-government protest in the past 50 years, but they did want to send a resounding message to the prime minister. The Tempe disaster embodies everything that makes them angry about this government: the arrogance stemming from the absence of a credible opponent, the lack of empathy, the mistaken belief that every transgression can be brushed away with PR stunts, the slipshod fixes in crucial sectors that are touted as feats of efficiency, the compromises with the old-school system, the exploitation of vital institutions.
The citizens put their trust in Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after SYRIZA’s dangerous antics because they believed him to be a politician with a technocratic mind who could guarantee a few basic things. That trust collapsed in the wake of the Tempe disaster because the need to feel that your child can take the train to the city where they’re studying without being in danger from the accumulation of sins of the political system is elemental. Then came anger and that anger was stoked by clumsy handling, the refusal to acknowledge the public’s outrage, political impunity and the unbelievable fact that for two years – until the official report was released on Thursday – there were no clear answers about what had happened.
Many of the citizens who took to the streets on Friday are aware of the fact that they have no option but to vote for Mitsotakis next time Greece goes to the polls. But if the prime minister takes this for granted and doesn’t make some changes, they will take to the streets again and they may even start flirting with the anti-establishment wave. Why? Because there is a question that is eating away at them: If this country doesn’t change now, when the hell will it?
Faced with such anger and skepticism on such a scale, the prime minister needs to ask himself some serious questions about his choices and about the expectations that brought him to power.