Political instability seems to be a trend across the Balkans, with the Greek government being the latest to experience some turbulence.
There has recently been a large amount of speculation in Greece as to whether early general elections are on their way. The idea was strengthened on June 3 when Greek prime minister, Costats Karamanlis, as well as university examiners, said that this year’s university entry tests had been the easiest for several years.
Ekathimerini.com reported on June 4 that the government introduced a tougher entry scheme two years ago. Students scoring lower than 50 per cent would not be allowed to enter university-level institutions. This resulted in almost 19 000 places remaining vacant last year, mostly at regional technical colleges, and educational reform becoming one of the areas the government has been heavily criticised for.
Asked by journalists whether, as critics have suggested, early elections would happen this autumn, Karamanlis did not rule out the possibility. “All these things will happen in good time”, he said. Ekathimerini.com reported that this was the first time Karamanlis did not say that his government would complete its four-year term (due to end in March 2008). “Everyone is asking about election day but nobody really knows when it will be”, transport minister Michalis Liapis said on June 3.
Reuters recently quoted a senior government official as saying that “the government would like a bit more time to finish things but it’s being forced to call early elections.” The official, who did not wish to be named, also said that nothing is currently moving, because “people expect snap elections in September or October.”
Since coming to power in 2004, the ruling conservative New Democracy (ND) party has been praised by the EU for pushing with forward with reforms, improving the economy and reducing the budget deficit. However, ND’s reputation was damaged recently damaged because of the suspended sale of an overpriced state bond to a state pension fund. The government’s labour and education reforms have also provoked many street protests. Naturally, the latest opinion polls suggest that currently Greeks’ main worries are unemployment (standing at nice per cent), corruption and the high cost of living.
Polls also suggest that the opposition social-democratic party, PASOK, is lagging behind ND by just one to three per cent. At the same time, the popularity of ND’s leader Costats Karamanlis is 20 percentage points higher than that of PASOK’s George Papandreou, according to Anthony Livanios, director of Alpha Metrics polling company.
Ekathimerini.com reported that Karamanlis fuelled further early elections speculations following a speech he delivered in Thessaloniki on June 2. During a conference there Karamanlis addressed his party (the ND) and assured them that the government would continue reforms both before and after the elections (presently scheduled for March 2008). During its three years in office it has kept its promises, he said. “The ND government turns its commitments into reality. Reliability and consistency in its policy is its difference from (the main opposition party) PASOK,” Karamanlis said. He critcised PASOK and said that during the 10 years it was in government, it used to promise the same things every year. “It promised a metro, but we saw no metro. It promised an undersea tunnel, but we saw no undersea tunnel. It promised an extension of the airport, projects at the port, hospitals. But we saw none of these. 10 years of promises and false words. 10 years of mockery,” he said. To emphasise his point, Karamanlis said that during the past three years since the ND has been in office, people have seen the start of the construction of the metro, the extension of the airport, the start of the construction of the undersea tunnel, as well as the building of two new hospitals.
