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The Elections, The Scapegoat And Why Greeks Shouldn't Blame The Politicians

There is a joke that has been circulating on the internet the past couple of days: “When Akis Tsochatzopoulos was arrested, it wasn’t out of arrogance. He was smiling because he was the one who had appointed the police officers that arrested him!” Obviously, the joke does not describe the actual incident. But as all jokes, it has some truth in it; a truth for the essence of the Greek constitutional state.
In Greece, it is rather difficult to put a public money abuser in prison. Yet someone who has committed the same crime in the private sector wouldn’t have the same luck.
The abuser of private property has significantly higher chances to enter prison at some point. Yet, the abuser of public property has significantly less chances to enter the Korydallos prison in Athens as the Greek state has an incredibly complex system that makes it extremely difficult – if not impossible -to apply the law.
Starting from the lack of complaints and finding witnesses and evidence, to the strange camaraderie among people who have to share small or big “guilty secrets” every time there is an investigation, in the end no one goes to jail. No wonder the Greek public opinion had reservations about Tsochatzopulos’ arrest and wondered how long it would take until he would be set free.
A sure sign of collapse is when words lose their meaning. And while politicians keep saying that “Greece is turning a page,” the majority of Greeks are certain that Tsochatzopoulos’ arrest is just one of the usual tricks a couple of weeks before the elections.
Tsochatzopoulos is just a scapegoat for the political elite’s sins, a smokescreen before the May 6 elections. His exclusion, ostracism, and expulsion is just a strategy. He suffers rejection from Greeks who Greek politicians seek to influence. This way, they hope crisis-hit Greeks could cool down and forget about the countless briberies and scandals of PASOK and ND.
Yes, Akis was an easy target. He married a woman 35 years his junior. She longed to be the wife of a minster and adopted a life style that corresponds to the Royal House of Saudi Arabia. He got married in the Four Seasons hotel in Paris, he bought a house on Athens’ most expensive streets.
Once again, the political system undervalues the intelligence of Greeks. Greece’s current tragedy wasn’t caused by one politician. There are hundreds of politicians from PASOK and ND who directly or indirectly stole billions of euros and safely deposited in their offshore accounts. Some of them still appear on TV and ask Greeks to vote for them on May 6 because this time they are really going to save them!
In Greek politics the current prime minister could govern effectively with a team of trusted “friends” with no strong institutional control. The abominable system of government was inaugurated by Andreas Papandreou, reinforced by Costas Simitis and took off – in terms of dynamics – by perhaps the worst post-war prime minister of Greece (the younger Karamanlis).
It is this “Prime-centric” system that led Greece to this tragedy. Akis was only a tiny part of it. Therefore, if Greeks do not tear down this hideous system of government, then no matter how many yogurts they throw at politicians, no matter how much they swear at Akis, they will have achieved nothing. And this means further continuous accountability of prime ministers, it means that MP’s can only serve two tenures in office and that citizens will participate actively in public affairs
through public referendums. Yet along with the former minister, the society that voted for him is also condemned.
It’s time for Greeks to put an end to this hypocrisy and stop putting the blame only on politicians. It was the Greek citizens that strengthened Akis-like political figures, for which strong rumors were circulating in the public sphere that they were involved in similar scandals like Akis. And yet they kept voting for them so that they would have their rousfeti done.
Is Akis the only reason that corruption pervades every corner of day to day life in Greece? From the doctor who takes his consultation fee without declaring it, to the bar-owner who buys his stock cash, no questions asked. Is Akis the only one to blame for the fact that nobody gets a state job because they’re the candidate best qualified and suited for it, but because they are the son or nephew or cousin or old school friend of someone who knows someone like Akis? Is Akis the only politician that voted for the impunity of the Greek 300 MPs so that all these politicians who have looted billions of euros in bribes and churning cannot go to jail? No, he wasn’t. But he was the stupidest one and got caught.

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