\n

learned from PASOK's mistakes?

\n

On the occasion of the election of a new leader for KINAL, we need to look back not at PASOK's achievements, but at its failures, so that we may learn from them.

\n

Young generations do not know that in 1981, alongside the country's entry into the European Union (then the EEC), PASOK came to power. They do not know that it initially enjoyed the support of the overwhelming majority of Greeks and could have worked miracles. Instead of miracles, however, it made negative choices on a number of issues. For example:

\n

A) The abolition of evaluation in the public sector. Note that even today, forty years later, there is still no evaluation of teachers (and probably of other public employees as well). There is none because it is rejected by the populist left, the populist PASOK, and then followed by the populist right.

\n

B) The law on trade unionism. Trade unionists did not merely become partners in power; they also became its enforcers. To a large extent, they are responsible for the country's bankruptcy. Perhaps the Giannitsis reform for pensions and the social insurance system alone would have been enough to prevent bankruptcy. But the unions, with the left and PASOK leading the way, tore up the streets and the Giannitsis reform was derailed.

\n

C) The politicization of the state and the fostering of corruption. It appointed hundreds of thousands to the public sector, and clientelist relations (MP and party offices) flourished. The PASOK loyalists ran the public sector. Green and blue cafes divided society.

\n

D) The socialization of troubled enterprises. In the name of socialist visions and with union enforcers in the lead, the state took on failing businesses. Everyone who worked in them became, in effect, a public employee. In all of them, party cadres were appointed as presidents and/or chief executives. And they all took care to keep them open, even when they should have been shut down, so that they could continue collecting their hefty salaries.

\n

A few examples show that the country's bankruptcy, which exploded in 2010, had its foundations in the 1980s:

\n

A) In 1981 public debt stood at 29% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product), and by 2004 it had reached 109%. During those years, the right governed for only three years. That is precisely where the foundation of the country's bankruptcy lies. Let us recall that in 1985 the governor of the Bank of Greece went to Kastri and told Andreas: we are going bankrupt. Andreas then changed course and we escaped bankruptcy.

\n

B) In 1981 unemployment was 4%, and by 2004 it had reached 11%, despite the hundreds of thousands appointed to the public sector.

\n

C) In 1981 the standard of living of Greeks was 77% of the European Union average, and in 2004 it was 75%. In other words, instead of improving, it was getting worse. And this was despite the enormous inflows of capital from the European Union.

\n

And yet some PASOK friends persist. They claim that "almost everyone lived well." Certainly, many farmers were drinking the so-called "agrotiko" or "skliro" - their name for whisky. But they forget that those whiskies were bought with borrowed money, and that others, poorer than Greeks (for example, the Portuguese), overtook us. PASOK's friends ignore comparison, and so they reach false conclusions.

\n

After 1994, PASOK left its worst self behind and tried to rebuild the country, especially during the Simitis era. Yet many PASOK officials and members deny the mistakes that were made, such as those mentioned above. Is it because they cannot bear to offend Andreas? Or because they cannot admit their own mistakes?

\n

In any case, populism has dominated PASOK since its birth. Populist PASOK is primarily responsible for the country's delay and bankruptcy. That is why, for years now, it has been slowly dying. And it will keep slowly dying until it tells the truth to itself and to Greek society. Only truth liberates and leads to progress.

\n

Pavlos Marantos

\n

marantosp@gmail.com

\n