SYRIZA’s faction of shame for the national tragedy

One of the elements that intensified the outcry against the government is its stubborn refusal to truly assume responsibility, the absence of even a single resignation, the lack of a single apology.

That was underlined in the news conference of Public Order Minister Toskas , government spokesman Dimitris Tzanakopoulos, and the chiefs of the Fire Service and Greek police. They said that they did the best that could be done, that they were proud of that, and that they would not have changed anything.  They showed absolute disrespect for the more than 90 dead and the ravaged residents of Eastern Attica.

It seems that this line is not shared by the entire SYRIZA party. There are voices, including political cadres and journalists who understand that the assumption of responsibility cannot be a dead letter.

In this regard, the answer of Alternate Social Solidarity Minister Theano Fotiou, in an interview with the newspaper Epohi, to the question how one feels after such a tragedy, is characteristic.

“One paralyses before the magnitude of the misery and rethinks one’s personal responsibilities, and the collective and diachronic responsibility. I understand the rage of the people. Today, it is very difficult to say what is to blame and what should be done. Yet, we have data and the responsibilities are being sought. In the hour of great mourning, however, we cannot and are not allowed to be paralysed by the tragedy, by the rage over diachronic and contemporary mistakes, by the guilt we who are living feel about the dead,” she said.

In the same newspaper, Yorgos Ginosatis, a topographic  engineer, and a SYRIZA member who is known for his activity in local movements in Eastern Attica, in his article underlined the chronic dysfunctions in construction practices in the area and the demands of residents.

“The collective interest is above motivations, vote mongering, and small or large private interests. There is no excuse for saying that we did not have enough time, or that our predecessors were worse. Solidarity does its job very well. Let the ruling Left also do its duty,” he wrote

Ministers as well

It is not by chance that various government members in public appearances or privately, do not follow the path of an arrogant refusal to assume responsibility.

There is a distance between the stance of Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis – who has a central communications role in reproducing the government’s narrative and the effort to belie those who say that on the night of 23 July and before the PM’s televised conference, the government knew that there were deaths – and the stance of Health Minister Andreas Xanthos – who coordinated efforts to offer health services.

Even Interior Minister Panos Skourletis, the political supervisor of the civil protection mechanism, was forced to admit on Wednesday  that, “It would be provocative for one to say that everything was done well when there are so many dead.”

Articles in government-friendly press

Articles in the government-friendly press note the responsibilities of the government and the serious errors in managing the wildfire tragedy.

An article by Dimitris Kanellopoulos in the newspaper Efimerida Ton Syntakton is characteristic.

“Because the weather conditions in Mati were unprecedented and the reaction of the state seemed limited, let us see the aftermath. I cannot understand why so many days after the tragedy there is not a single resignation. It is ridiculous to be called Citizens’ Protection Minister after 90 deaths. What kind of protection did you offer them? What is Mr. Tsipras waiting for in attributing responsibility? Eight days have passed and he did nothing. Can he not understand that he is drowning along with ministers, public servants, and local government officials who bear responsibility due to their position? Alexis Tsipras has suffered a heavy defeat from recent events. If he had sacked some people, he could speak on a different basis.”

Karteros under fire

On the website of Efimerida Ton Syntakton, well-known journalist Babis Agrolambros, who has worked at SYRIZA’s radio station Sto Kokkino, in a long article unleashes harsh criticism of how the government handled the affair. He criticised the head of the PM’s press office, Thanasis Karteros, over the latter’s article in the newspaper Avgi.

“What relation does the Left have with this peculiar logic, and what can the country expect? Must it tolerate the squalor of every government member and advisor, and act in the end as a launderer?”

To ask questions even in the most tragic moments is a basic characteristic of a democratic society. Even if the questions are raw or provocative, they cannot match the pain of people who lost their relatives at Mati. It is not questions that lead to a communications exploitation of the dead, as the government spokesman believes. It is the lack of convincing answers.”

There is a lack of understanding of personal – and by extension social and political – responsibility. It is not a decapitation to replace people who were called upon to manage a crisis and failed. Even if the mistakes that were made are pardonable, the weight of the tragedy is too enormous for them to continue to shoulder in their posts.”

SYRIZA’s Securitate and the ‘praetors’

All this shows that the broader Left does not adopt the stance of a communications Securitate, which SYRIZA has set up, and which seeks opponents, underminers and death exploiters, even as it consciously reproduces lies.

Not everyone is willing to behave politically or journalistically as praetors of the PM’s office, and as a protective shield of a government and a PM who at the critical moment could not rise to the occasion.

Instead of a true assumption of responsibility, the government engaged in a cynical effort to shift responsible to anyone else.

All people in the broader Left to not toe the line. They are not trolls who have spread over the internet to censor those who have another view, those who criticise the prince in the PM’s office, or the political bodyguards, who show incredible disrespect for the dead and living.

It remains to be seen if the emerging “faction of remorse” in SYRIZA can pressure for a shift in direction, either in the political management of the disaster and prevention of future ones, or in the effort of the government to show a different face when confronted with the rage of society.

Though it is late for tears and apologies – which the PM’s office has understood and has begun a new propagandistic disorientation – the government is attempting to turn attention to the blameworthy dead who constructed homes illegally.