New government barely sworn in before party rhetoric begins anew

Chronicle of a death foretold?

My heart sank when I read the first words uttered by the current New Democracy leader, Antonis Samaras shortly after the swearing-in ceremony. He immediately claimed victory over the process and the fact that Papandreou was forced to resign two years into his term.

In a very populist tone he claimed not to change his opinions as if they were “shirts.” (it’s a Greek expression)  I am attaching his words as they appeared in today’s VIMA newspaper,   for anyone who may want a more accurate rendition of the statements.[1]

When so much is at stake, and so much work to be done, how can that be one’s first statement? It’s  unnecessary, unprofessional  and foreshadows the  kind of  problems  that  will arise in the next few weeks as difficult decisions need to be made.

While this new PM, who has been called to succeed where politicians before were unable to, tries to work through the problems and put in place all the measures and structural transformations required for the country to stay afloat,  I hope that the public will give him the support he needs. It is clear that politicians have a different agenda.