Yesterday’s reshuffle brought a political cycle to an end.
The government has confirmed that it enjoys Parliament’s confidence, a new President of the Republic has moved into their official residence on Herodou Atticou, the Prime Minister has refreshed his Cabinet, and anyone who aspires to succeed him is going to have to wait another two to two and a half years.
The rest will become clear as we go along.
With the political and constitutional certainty that Greek Democracy has consistently proved its resilience in the face of pretenders, events, and the emotional responses they elicit. It has shown it will not succumb to opportunists.
But every time one cycle ends, another begins.
That isn’t to say that the government won’t be judged on its explanations for the “missing xylene”, the “anonymous corpses” and the “vaporized passenger cars” in the next elections, too, but those issues will be of secondary importance
It will be judged primarily on the quality of the governance it provides its citizens.
And, of course, by the relationships of trust it renews or builds with a majority of the electorate.
In any case, no government can hope to be embraced by everyone–which is why democracy means governing in line with the beliefs and aspirations of the dominant majority. They are what decide the course events take.
The polls show these relations have been shaken, so restoring them should be the government’s top priority.
The government’s handling is clearly most to blame, along—perhaps—with public distrust, and certainly the passage of time, which is as inexorable in government as it is in love.
Next July, Mr. Mitsotakis will already be Greece’s longest-serving Prime Minister of recent decades after Costas Simitis, and he has already won three consecutive parliamentary elections.
Working in his favor have been the return to political normality, sound economic housekeeping, and the sort of international turmoil that tends to work in favor of government stability.
Above all else, though, the administration has benefitted from the absence of an effective and credible opposition capable of showing itself fit to rule.
SYRIZA has collapsed, PASOK is teetering between ruin and renewal, and while Konstantopoulou and Velopoulos remain very much alive and kicking politically, they lack any real political viewpoint.
Both remain confined to the margins, sandwiched between an activism of disparate angry people and a quaint cult of personality.
But this cycle has now ended. The new cycle that has begun will take the Prime Minister and his party through to the next elections and the possibility of a new term in office.
But they’ll have to fight hard for it.
