There are quite a few English words that are commonly used in the Greek language and for the past couple of days the main English word that is heard everywhere is the word “debate” (“ντιμπέιτ”). This is because of the election debate that took place last night with the leaders of the main parties and was broadcast live by all major TV stations (about ten in total). Yesterday was chosen for the ντιμπέιτ as it was the one day when the Greek team in the European Basketball Championship in Spain had a day off!
Elections in Greece are a unique experience when politics is front-page news. If it weren’t for the basketball, you'd think there's nothing else happening in the world (which is brilliant when you compare the election campaign and level of political debate in other countries!). The only other item in the news last night was the death of Luciano Pavarotti.
The ντιμπέιτ was fun even though it wasn’t a “proper” ντιμπέιτ (thanks to the Government’s decision). The leaders themselves were not “allowed” to address each other, and the journalists were only allowed a 30 second question (with a 90 second answer) followed by a 20 second “come-back” (with a 60 second answer), i.e. not real discussion. Also, the director was not allowed to show what was the most interesting “shot” but obliged to show the leader answering the question and not anyone else. Despite that, it was good fun and a very interesting way to spend almost three hours in an evening!
Before the ντιμπέιτ, there was live coverage from outside the ERT building (home of the public broadcaster that hosted the ντιμπέιτ) as the leaders and participating journalists were arriving. One of the leaders, Mr Alavanos from left-wing SIRIZA went a few metres away from the entrance where a strike by ERT employees was taking place and spoke to them. Another leader, Mr Karatzaferis from right-wing LAOS was carrying a lemon in his hand as a way of ridiculing the ντιμπέιτ calling it a “soup” (hence the lemon to make it taste better!).
Despite the “restrictions”, the ντιμπέιτ was interesting to watch and was actually the only programme to watch on telly for three hours, something that only elections can achieve in Greece. Apart from the “views-to-be-expected”, the party leaders weren’t as “boring” as most people were expecting!
Mr Karamanlis from the conservative governing party (ND) appeared far less confident (and worried if you ask me) and confirmed for the first time publicly that if he is the first party after the election but without an overall majority, then he will ask the President for new elections as he isn’t prepared to discuss with anyone the possibility of a joint government (this of course assumes that all the other parties will fail to form a government). He also said (after being almost forced to by a journalist) that he will veto the acceptance of the Former Yugoslavic Republic of Macedonia becoming a member of NATO in six months time (March 2008).
Mr Papandreou of the socialist main opposition PASOK was very relaxed, confident and convincing (I think) and much better than his indecisive self four years ago; unlike then, he was not reading his words and could answer spontaneously (despite his attempt at times to avoid giving direct answers - something that most leaders tried to do). Ms Papariga, the Communist leader, as well as Mr Alavanos of SIRIZA were possibly the “winners” of the ντιμπέιτ with clear views and sharp responses to the journalists’ questions. The “line of the night”, however, came from Mr Karatzaferis, the leader of LAOS, who answered a question originally put to the Prime Minister about “which attributes should a citizen have to become Prime Misnister”. Mr Karatzaferis said that all someone needs is a surname of Karamanlis or Papandreou, reminding the audience that in 1945, 1965, 1985 and 1995 the Prime Minister was called Papandreou (the father and grandfather of the current leader of PASOK) while in 1955, 1975 and 2005, the Prime Minister was called Karamanlis (in 1955 and 1975, the uncle of the current PM was heading the government).
We have nine days left, with no (legal) opinion polls allowed and the main open-air (mass) gatherings for each party in the main cities to come next week. The prediction remains that there will be 5 parties in the next Parliament with the increased possibility for a hung parliament.
I was going to be more “statistical” in this blog, but it’s too long already, so I will leave that for the next election blog!
ps. A nice breeze blew over Symi this morning with the few clouds in the sky colouring the Harbour nicely as they were passing by rather quickly. See for yourselves by watching the videos!
Elections in Greece are a unique experience when politics is front-page news. If it weren’t for the basketball, you'd think there's nothing else happening in the world (which is brilliant when you compare the election campaign and level of political debate in other countries!). The only other item in the news last night was the death of Luciano Pavarotti.
The ντιμπέιτ was fun even though it wasn’t a “proper” ντιμπέιτ (thanks to the Government’s decision). The leaders themselves were not “allowed” to address each other, and the journalists were only allowed a 30 second question (with a 90 second answer) followed by a 20 second “come-back” (with a 60 second answer), i.e. not real discussion. Also, the director was not allowed to show what was the most interesting “shot” but obliged to show the leader answering the question and not anyone else. Despite that, it was good fun and a very interesting way to spend almost three hours in an evening!
Before the ντιμπέιτ, there was live coverage from outside the ERT building (home of the public broadcaster that hosted the ντιμπέιτ) as the leaders and participating journalists were arriving. One of the leaders, Mr Alavanos from left-wing SIRIZA went a few metres away from the entrance where a strike by ERT employees was taking place and spoke to them. Another leader, Mr Karatzaferis from right-wing LAOS was carrying a lemon in his hand as a way of ridiculing the ντιμπέιτ calling it a “soup” (hence the lemon to make it taste better!).
Despite the “restrictions”, the ντιμπέιτ was interesting to watch and was actually the only programme to watch on telly for three hours, something that only elections can achieve in Greece. Apart from the “views-to-be-expected”, the party leaders weren’t as “boring” as most people were expecting!
Mr Karamanlis from the conservative governing party (ND) appeared far less confident (and worried if you ask me) and confirmed for the first time publicly that if he is the first party after the election but without an overall majority, then he will ask the President for new elections as he isn’t prepared to discuss with anyone the possibility of a joint government (this of course assumes that all the other parties will fail to form a government). He also said (after being almost forced to by a journalist) that he will veto the acceptance of the Former Yugoslavic Republic of Macedonia becoming a member of NATO in six months time (March 2008).
Mr Papandreou of the socialist main opposition PASOK was very relaxed, confident and convincing (I think) and much better than his indecisive self four years ago; unlike then, he was not reading his words and could answer spontaneously (despite his attempt at times to avoid giving direct answers - something that most leaders tried to do). Ms Papariga, the Communist leader, as well as Mr Alavanos of SIRIZA were possibly the “winners” of the ντιμπέιτ with clear views and sharp responses to the journalists’ questions. The “line of the night”, however, came from Mr Karatzaferis, the leader of LAOS, who answered a question originally put to the Prime Minister about “which attributes should a citizen have to become Prime Misnister”. Mr Karatzaferis said that all someone needs is a surname of Karamanlis or Papandreou, reminding the audience that in 1945, 1965, 1985 and 1995 the Prime Minister was called Papandreou (the father and grandfather of the current leader of PASOK) while in 1955, 1975 and 2005, the Prime Minister was called Karamanlis (in 1955 and 1975, the uncle of the current PM was heading the government).
We have nine days left, with no (legal) opinion polls allowed and the main open-air (mass) gatherings for each party in the main cities to come next week. The prediction remains that there will be 5 parties in the next Parliament with the increased possibility for a hung parliament.
I was going to be more “statistical” in this blog, but it’s too long already, so I will leave that for the next election blog!
ps. A nice breeze blew over Symi this morning with the few clouds in the sky colouring the Harbour nicely as they were passing by rather quickly. See for yourselves by watching the videos!
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