What has been transpiring over recent days in public but mainly on the sidelines of public life are unfortunately reminiscent of a bygone era that had seriously harmed political life.
This game of blackmail, MPs switching party, and political transactions are yet another deep wound for the country’s political life, with consequences that could spin out of control.
Mr. Tsipras may have for the time being managed to stay in power by absorbing half of the MPs of the Independent Greeks, his erstwhile coalition partner, but he undermined any prestige he had left after his many political reversals.
His backroom deals are so obvious that there can be no room for doubt. Upstart MPs without political grounding, ideology or a political viewpoint are ready to do somersaults and switch camp as long as they can even briefly prolong their term in office and harbour the delusion that they save themselves politically.
The problem is not all these aspiring saviours who will be forgotten in a matter of months, but rather the course and future of the entire country, the interests of which are yet again being sacrificed in the name of fleeting, opportunistic designs.
The longer this situation that degrades parliamentary institutions and democracy persists, the greater the impediments to the country’s efforts to finally exit the tunnel of uncertainty.
The prime minister bears an enormous responsibility for the current situation, because he chose to turn a national issue, the resolution of the FYROM naming problem, into a divisive game. Instead of consensus, dialogue, and agreement on the basics, he chose to divide the opposition and society.
Today, he is resorting to blackmail and backroom deals in order to forge a temporary majority and don the mantle of statesman.
This state of affairs cannot last very long. The economy and society cannot withstand it, and the political system is being undermined.
The clear solutions that Mr. Tsipras seeks do not end with the confidence vote in parliament supported by this peculiar political monstrosity.
The only way not to once again become embroiled in adventures is to hold elections, so that citizens can decide as soon as possible whom they want to manage the country’s future from hereon in.
