Editorial Ta Nea: Open secret

The legislation that the government tabled in parliament regarding the purchase of election materials without a tender does not merely reveal its intentions.

It bears witness to the fact that because the government finds itself in a sticky wicket, there is little political time left and the suffocating political conditions appear to be bringing the time of election nearer.

Another indication that elections are drawing nearer is that the government has taken actions such as cabinet approval for the hiring of 15,000 additional civil servants.

Naturally, those are not the only moves from which one can surmise that the government is in electoral mode.

Even Parliament Speaker Nikos Voutsis’ slip of the tongue when he said that we are in an electoral period proves the Greek adage that a tongue that errs speaks truth.

With such indicative actions, such clear intentions, and such a revealing slip of the tongue, the government has no reason to pretend about something that is an open secret.

The country and its political life must rid themselves of the habit of using the date of elections as a means to achieving political aims, as it is not just the government that is rushing to procure material needed to conduct elections.

The whole country is in a rush to clear up the political terrain, which has purposely been kept murky by the government, with a view to garnering electoral advantage.