A transitional government is not the right answer to Greece's problem

There is a new government in Greece.

There is a new Prime Minister in Greece.

The new Prime Minister is a technocrat, a banker and certainly not a politician of the mainstream political scene in Greece.

Greece is in deep trouble.

Greece is almost bankrupt.

Greece is for all practical purposes bankrupt.

There is a sense of relief in the air.

European leaders are expressing their congratulations.

The Greek public hopes that the new Prime Minister will do good things.

But the mainstream political parties call this a “transitional” government.

A transition to what?

To elections in February 2012?

Quite frankly, I find this “transition” a totally unsatisfactory approach.

The country today does not need a “transitional” government.

The country today needs a real government.

The mainstream political parties of PASOK and New Democracy simply try to preserve their position in the political arena, even though it is quite clear that they have failed to perform adequately and serve the country when both of them were given their chance.

But by doing so they only serve their own narrow interests and do not give a damn about the country. They have failed the country, they have failed their constituencies and now perform this “transition” manouvre in order to recover from their wounds and return to claim power in the very near future.

This is why the new Government is a monster of 48 ministers!

This is the monster that the new Prime Minister, Mr Papademos must govern with.

In my humble view he will fail if he continues on the path that has already been drawn out by PASOK and New Democracy.

Greece today needs a real Government, not the failed puppets of PASOK and New Democracy.

Mr Papademos has and will have for a short time power that he may not be aware of. He has the power to force the two mainstream parties to do whatever he tells them to do, whether they like it or not. This is a unique privilige that only Mr Papademos has and he should not squander it by playing small political games that are in any case useless and meaningless.

The Greek public today is aware of the bankruptcy of the mainstream political parties. The ultra right of Mr Karatzaferis is surely capitalizing on his success to be part of the “transitional” government, but he will never achieve primary status in the country. The parties of the left are well within the confines of their rigid thinking and they cannot go beyond. In a way, the majority of the Greek people today want to go ahead without political parties. Because they know that the political parties of the country have failed them.

This is what Mr Papademos must understand and use to the full so that he governs until the country is in a stable condition and has a solid platform for growth and development. This will take at least three years to achieve. But must be done if we want Greece to have a future without serious complications.

This is also something that the Eurocrats must undserstand. Until now they have been playing with Mr George Papandreou, assuming that he will get the job done. They now know they were wrong. To their credit, they are the ones who pushed for the new government’s formation. However, they must not stop now. They must support and promote the idea that the new government needs to solve acute problems, keep Greece in the Euro while the haircut of maybe 80% takes place,  and then create the conditions for the economy’s growth and development.

This cannot be done by a country that will go to elections in a few months’ time, only to elect New Democracy who will also fail to do anything substantial.

The economic crisis of the country has exposed the huge political crisis, and the solution to this is not general elections. The solution to this is hard work under a solid government that has as its objective to save the country, not to restore the interests of the mainstream political parties and the bankrupt political system they represent.