.
Sunday’s general elections in Greece will most likely return the centre-right New Democracy back into office, following what almost all analysts have termed as a disastrous Syriza government that decimated the middle class, punished pensioners and brought the economy to the brink of yet another disaster.
Right from the start, Alexis Tsipras’ “first time for the Left” platform, though popular at first, assuming that it would appeal to the lower-income classes, proved to be the opposite.
It gave in to excessive pressure from the Troika to impose long-overdue reforms, emptied state coffers and forced the government to resort to other sources of revenue, primarily from widespread privatisations.
And that is where corruption seems to have flourished, returning Greece to the age of kickbacks, which it was supposed to have left behind.
At least tax collection has somewhat improved, but with a further €30 bln remaining outstanding among a total of 120 bln, most of which cannot be recovered because of bankruptcies, but wrongly remain on the books, while tax inspectors need help to have better tools to do their job and combat tax evasion, as in some of the famous cases of no receipts being issued or registered in high-profile shops or restaurants in Mykonos.
On the political and national front, regional geostrategic issues were underestimated at a time when neighbours were pushing their own agendas, once again leaving Greece behind, while in the energy sector, instead of learning from the Cyprus experiences and cooperating much closer with Nicosia, Athens seems to have been in competition with Cyprus and Cypriot initiatives.
With the new administration taking charge, PM-elect Kyriacos Mitsotakis should not waste any time and appoint his new administration without haste so that normalcy can return as fast as possible and bridges that have been burnt, can be mended the soonest, to the benefit of the people of Greece and Cyprus.
The advantage of the new government is that it will possibly not rely on a coalition formation, allowing the new PM to extend a hand of cooperation for a national unity administration so that all can partake in the effort to rebuild the fragile economy and the wounded nation of Greece, reviving its role in regional, defence, economy and energy issues.
Perhaps, the best message was given by Alexandra Vovolini, the publisher of the oldest and most respected business magazine in Greece, “Economiki Epitheorisi” who wrote in her editorial, calling for Greek voters "to vote positively, in the light of the future and not punitively, in the light of the past".
