Guardian UK: European elites should be wary of the Greek spring

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK:



The Greek prime minister George Papandreou's loss of power is not surprising: the reaction of Greeks to the 27 October agreement with its new tranche of austerity measures and the further undermining of national independence was devastating for the government. The next day, a military parade was abandoned as protesters occupied the streets, and the president had to flee; parades elsewhere were similarly interrupted. The political elites, who felt unassailable for 30 years, now sense the popular anger and are unable to comprehend or contain it.

The call for a referendum was the irrational act of a regime that had lost touch with the people and was trying desperately to save its skin. Papandreou's gambit looked like a veiled threat to the eurozone authorities and was interpreted as such by leaders who have been strongly rebuffed in recent referendums by the French and the Dutch - where two of the core nations rejected the European constitution and ended aspirations for the creation of a European superstate based on neoliberal principles. "Referendum", a dirty word in the corridors of Brussels, evoked the fear elites feel when the people momentarily enter the political stage.

But Papandreou's plan was not a late recognition or a democratic redress of the repeated humiliations visited upon Greeks, or a reassertion of sovereignty against the IMF and Germany. On the contrary, it was the government's attempt to regain the initiative against its own people clamouring to see it exit the stage. The inability to predict the angry reaction of the Europeans turns it into a dispiriting swansong of a dispirited and utterly defeated government, a blackmail that backfired.

First, it was a threat to the Greek people, who with their protests over 18 months have turned Greece into an ungovernable country. Papandreou was telling them that unless they accepted the new catastrophic measures they would be condemned to leave the eurozone and suffer a further collapse of living standards. Second, it was addressed to backbench Pasok MPs, stirring in response to popular pressure and the disastrous opinion polls. They were asked to give a vote of confidence to Papandreou last Friday, under the James Callaghan principle that "turkeys do not vote for an early Christmas". ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/06/greek-spring-europe-contagion-resistance

[MisterP]

1. now imagine how crazy the Greeks would look if they said that their solution was "vote Papandreou"