In 1981 Andreas Papandreou won the election by a large majority. He won under the main slogan of “Change.” Therefore, he could have made whatever change he wanted, without any difficulty. Unfortunately, Andreas’s populism prevailed.

It is well known that, especially after the death of Andreas Papandreou, the battle between the modernizers and the populists within PASOK was intense. In the end, the modernizers prevailed, and Kostas Simitis governed the country from 1996 to 2004.

Some PASOK populists seem to have forgotten two important successes of Kostas Simitis, which were also national successes. Perhaps Simitis’s mistake was that he did not remove in time those involved in the scandals. But even on that there was fierce resistance from populist PASOK. One only needs to remember the ferocious reaction of populist PASOK to the pension reform.

Simitis’s first success was the organization and successful staging of the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The second success was the country’s and Cyprus’s entry into the Economic and Monetary Union, the euro, in 2001. Both of these successes had a positive effect on Greece’s course.

Especially the entry of Cyprus into the European Union and the euro, with two Greek states in the E.U., was a success on a grand scale. For the first time in Greece’s history, the Greek nation had greater security and prospects for political and economic development.

If a part of the Greek people thought that Greeks are the chosen people, to whom all of Europe should give free money, it was certainly mistaken.

In 2010 the country went bankrupt because of its many loans. It was therefore forced to sign loan agreements with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union in order to be lent money. These are the well-known memoranda.

If they had not lent us money and we had left the euro, and by necessity the European Union as well, it is certain that we would have returned to the 1950s. Also, in such a case, civil war could have broken out. Perhaps that was what the two extremes were aiming for.

Immediately after the signing of the first memorandum, propaganda from the left and the right was stirring up the people against it. In fact, left-wing propaganda claimed that the memorandum bankrupted the country. The truth is that the country went bankrupt because of excessive borrowing and was forced to sign the memoranda.

In 2014 Syriza came to power as an anti-memorandum force, exploiting the anger and frustration of the people. Everyone remembers that a central position in Syriza’s program was: “Abolish the memoranda with one law.”

Alexis Tsipras governed for more than four years. Not only did he not abolish the memoranda, but he also signed the third and most onerous memorandum, which cost the country about one hundred (100) billion euros, or, according to others, two hundred billion euros.

For the two prime ministers, Andreas Papandreou and Alexis Tsipras, we reach the following conclusion: they were two great populists. Populists consciously deceive the people in order to win elections. They promise the people one thing and do something else once they gain power.

It should be clarified: there is no comparison whatsoever between Andreas Papandreou and Alexis Tsipras. Andreas was a great leader, while Alexis was and remains a major school occupier. If Andreas had lacked populism, he might have been one of the greatest leaders in our modern history.

History and experience confirm that humanity has suffered at the hands of populists. Moreover, the changes they promise cannot be realized. When populists win elections, everything is then put in order. The party and state propaganda machinery comes under their control. Propaganda turns white into black, and little by little the people forget the promises.

Meanwhile, the party nomenklatura of the populists enjoys the privileges of power at the expense of the gullible little crowd.

Pavlos Marantos

marantosp@gmail.com