Nobody is denying anyone the constitutionally protected right of standing for an election.
However, it is hard to not comment on many of the political candidacies in the upcoming local government elections, especially the cases of MPs who are safely standing in the elections for municipalities and prefectures, whilst maintaining their MPs status.
One may wonder what motivates those candidates, who will not even hesitate to come to blows with their parties in order to get what they want.
Are they mobilizing because they are motivated by the improvement of the municipality, prefecture and the country at large, or do they have ulterior, more personal and humbler motives?
The latter is true in the case for many of the more outrageous cases.
Entirely personal motives, predominantly professional, inform the cases of many political candidates in local government.
Truth be told, Mr. Kaklamanis was voted out of the Municipality of Athens because the people believed that he did not serve the city and he never met the expectations they had for him.
Stubborn as he is though, he insists on running in the elections for the Municipality of Athens, primarily because he wants a rematch for his defeat in 2010 elections by current mayor G. Kaminis.
He is motivated by his ego and ambition to extend his presence in the central political scene. If there are other things motivated them, then he should reveal them and resign from his post as MP. The fact that he is not resigning allows everyone to believe that his pursuits are purely personal, selfish and have nothing to do with the greater public interest.
The same can be said about Mr. Aris Spiliotopoulos, who is also a contender in the race for the municipality of Athens. He too was “recruited”; nobody suggested him, he proposed himself and his candidacy was accepted by his party’s leadership.
What motivates Mr. Spiliotopoulos, who incidentally has also refused to given up his parliamentary seat? Does he want to serve Athens, or is he trying to support the effort to exit the crisis through the position?
After about twenty years in politics, Mr. Spiliotopoulos did not achieve much. After a few years at the side of Kostas Karamanlis, he was cast aside in New Democracy and awaited to become minister for years.
Eventually he achieved his goal, but his short tenure at the Ministries of Tourism and Education are probably insignificant, nobody can remember them.
And then he disappeared again. Now he is obviously back, because according to his calculations, things have gotten tough in Athens and he will not have many opportunities to remain in the spotlight of the electorate.
This candidacy appears to be strictly professional. Personal ambition may be desirable, but it is still personal, rather than out of sense of what is in the public’s interest.
The same can be said about Mr. Tzitzikostas’ candidacy for the prefecture of Central Macedonia. A special legislative regulation was necessary for him to be appointed regional governor, after Mr. Psomiadis was overthrown.
His party suggested that he led the race for the Municipality of Thessaloniki, since he was born and raised in the city. Because he probably estimated that he could not face the current Mayor Yannis Boutaris, he decided to take advantage of his current position and run for the prefecture. Without a doubt, this is a personal and selfish choice.
One could mention many other similar cases, where partisan and personal interests are entangled.
The problem is that the lack of representation is become problematic and local government will continue to be influenced and dominated to a great extent by selfish interests, that have little to do with what the people want amidst the huge crisis, namely for the Municipalities to become hubs of growth, recovery and solidarity.
Unfortunately few candidates broke this rule and are in the position to guarantee their selflessness. Eventually though the people will have to choose the mayors they truly want.
Whether they chose political careerists or people who will sacrifice other positions or something personal is another story…
Antonis Karakousis
