It used to be that the communists were to blame for everything. As time went on and with the help of the military dictatorship, the blame for everything wrong with the country was shifted to the far-right.
And that is how in the mid 1970s the era of bipartisan democracy began. Everyone claimed the paternity of this, which has been credited to Konstantinos Karamanlis. The torch was quickly passed on to Andreas Papandreou, who made a significant contribution to the democratization and modernization effort of Greece.
The two leaders tried and most succeeded in implementing the democratic system, firmly instating Greece ins the West.
The major electoral win of PASOK in 1981 put an end to the separation of people over their political believes and democracy was established. Charilaos Florakis, “Captain Yotis” from the civil war, was wandering around in Parliament with a smile. The representatives of the civil war forgot about the difficult years and the bands of communist militias.
The times have changed. The discussions about scandals are emerging everywhere. It is time for decisions. The current government must be careful and correctly predict the developments so that the scandal-mongering does not continue.
The country must not enter an abrasive vicious cycle of blame and persecution, which will result in a free-for-all. The country cannot endure a repeat of a new national schism…
Stavros P. Psycharis
Originally published in the Sunday print edition
