The party leader of socialist Pasok Evengelos Venizelos staged a press event on Monday to seemly tackle the popularity of far right xenophobic group Golden Dawn and call for it to be outlawed, It showed just how superficial his effort was because he is avoiding other more pressing issues and in all likelihood it will backfire given his own lack of popularity.
Greek domestic politics has become a little like cooking these days. In politicians efforts to be innovative they appear to be chefs that mix up anything they find before the, making Greeks nostalgic for good old fashioned dishes. The trickery that socialist leader Evangelos Venizelos tried on with Golden Dawn party are of course just an exercise in communications.
Does he seriously believe with his initiative he will rally the traditional audience of socialist Pasok? That is particularly doubtful when Venizelos is being challenged by his own party senior ranks – from the “right” of his party by Andreas Loverdos and Michalis Chrisochoidis – and also from the left by Mimis Androulakis and Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou .
The “fascists” of Golden Dawn were the first thing that Venizelos found in front of him to use as a safety plank at a time when Pasok is sinking as disreputable and obsolescent.
If you need Golden Dawn to prove that you are a socialist, then something is not right. We assume that Venizelos is smart enough to know that at this time he is seen by the great majority of voters as nothing less as dislikable even to repugnant.
Therefore he must know that anything he is opposed to automatically becomes more likeable due to his stated opposition. And this is exactly what is happening with his initiative to outlaw the far right party Golden Dawn. The answer that comes automatically to mind of most of the audience is that “it’s better for Venizelos to be outlawed.”
There is a thin line that differentiates between courage and brazenness. From the outside sometimes these qualities appear identical but they stem from different motivations and that becomes evident.
Today the legislative work of parliamentary deputies has essential been relegated and the country is governed by imposed dictates, so where is Venizelos sensibilities to these facts as former professor of constitutional law and leader of the “progressive center left” party? He is whistling in the wind.
What view does Venizelos hold on the many times that parliamentary procedures where railroaded to serve the interests of the George Papandreou and Loucas Papademos governments? He doesn’t make a peep about that.
Even on the notorious referendum on the bailout and the Euro that former socialist PM George Papandreou had proposed, Venizelos was nowhere to seen. He was rushed to the hospital where he hid and from answering journalists’ questions.
The only thing that Venezelos initiative will achieve is to give Golden Dawn the perfect alibi to allow it to launder itself from its neo-Nazi past and rename itself “Greek Dawn.” It has already announced its intention to do so that it can remarket itself politically as a conservative right wing party. They are already shifting their logo from the Nazi “swastika” to the “phoenix” borrowed from the military junta of the 1970s.
In time they may become mainstream and then conservative New Democracy and socialist Pasok parties will be running behind them to head off their risks but it may be too late.
PS. 1. Is it possible that Venizelos does not understand that by his actions he is actually helping Golden Dawn? Impossible since he is very intelligent.
PS. 2. Venizelos former socialist colleague and ally Andreas Loverdos announced that he formed a movement called “Riksi” and no he isn’t by himself.
PS. 3. At least former Pasok headliner Anna Diamantopoulou is on the right socialist track and making less trouble by keeping a low profile.
