The Greek repeat elections of June 17th may become the country’s most crucial in the past 30 years. The two leading parties, according to the polls, are New Democracy and SYRIZA. The two are polar opposites; the former supports the Memorandum measures and Greece’s remaining in the Eurozone, while the latter asks for renegotiation of the Memorandum articles, putting at risk, according to their opponents, the Euro-future of the country.
New Democracy published a controversial advertisement featuring Greek children, and many people now accuse the party of fierce canvassing, reverting to blatant appeals to emotion to convince their voters.
The ad takes place in a classroom with the teacher reading out the countries that are still in the Eurozone: “..Cyprus, Belgium, Ireland, France, Portugal, Spain…”
When he stops, a young girl asks him puzzled, “And what about Greece? Greece is not part of the Eurozone?” A few seconds of silence follow as the teacher is unable to explain to his students what happened and why Greece is out of the Eurozone.
Then, the commentator states, “We must not play with our kids’ future! Greece needs a specific course,” according to New Democracy, suggesting that this might be the future plan for Greece if voters do not vote for their party.
Another advertisement for the party shows a scene in Brussels where there are 27 flags suspended and suddenly, the Greek one falls. A similar slogan appears: “We, Greeks, will not allow this to happen!”
Both advertisements have raised objections by many viewers who consider them as “provocative” and “disgraceful.” Citizens and academics, not to mention politicians themselves, have criticized New Democracy for using children as a propaganda ploy to further their case. Facebook and Twitter users have widely posted the ads with negative comments pointing out that citizens should jeer at such political tactics.
At the same time, a satirical picture has gone viral as a kind of response to New Democracy. The image depicts another classroom with the children asking the teacher the following questions: “Why do states outside the Eurozone have higher development rates?” “Why has Iceland imprisoned their corrupt politicians and rewritten their Constitution?”; “Why must the banks determine my future?”; “Why do you always vote for robbers?” and “Why do you think we are stupid so you can tell us nonsense?”
(Source: Proto Thema)
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