Editorial Ta Nea: Disappointment

It is by now obvious that in over four years in power the SYRIZA government failed to develop a relationship of trust with citizens.

That is because it governed just as it had acted as main opposition party – by lying and self-negation.

In both phases it hid the truth from citizens and constantly promised that it would offer a chicken in every pot.
Instead of giving it took, however, and when it gave it gave much less than it had promised.

This is what happened with the so-called “13th monthly pension check”. The government took a lot in taxes from the many and promised it would give some of that back to certain people. In the end, it gave much less than it had promised.

It fell as low as to try just a few days before elections to fool a segment of society that deserves the utmost respect – senior citizens.

The queues of pensioners at ATMs the day the first benefit was disbursed demonstrated how much retirees need that money to cover their living needs.

That showed that the “13th pension” was of vital importance to them.

One may legitimately ask, however, why the government announced a benefit which was in the end reduced by the withholding of tax and insurance contributions.

Why did it not announce to pensioners the actual net amounts they would receive?

The government is obliged to offer an explanation.

At the very least, it should apologise to pensioners for both its effort to bribe them for their vote and for the fact that it in final analysis it disappointed them.