Editorial Ta Nea: Fiasco

There are many reasons that SYRIZA’s efforts to woo and penetrate the centre-left have resulted in a fiasco.

One reason for that is that the Prime Minister attempted a shift toward Social Democracy without curbing his populist instincts.

Secondly, the endeavour was undertaken in an aggressive manner with petty partisan ruses which ended up rallying together the centre-left Movement for Change.

Thirdly, the PM in his effort to imitate the late Andreas Papandreou overlooks the fact that Papandreou was able to unite the centre-left because he was part of it from the beginning of his political career in the 1960’s and not a newcomer.

The so-called “Bridge” initiative to bring together SYRIZA and the centre-left failed because the bridge builders were people who were linked to SYRIZA or had served in the ruling party’s government.

Now, the effort is continuing with the recruitment of individuals who claim to have come from Pasok but who have had no links to the party for years. These are people who are political lightweights and conceal their insignificance with grandiose titles.

The result is a dual political and communications fiasco, because SYRIZA ignored the fundamental political principle that bridges are built through agreement on a political programme and not by political pillaging.