Cover-ups and insecurity
The fallout from the rail crash triggered waves of anger that exceeded the shock and sadness from the accident itself. February protests across the country revealed that dismay over a range of issues — corruption, a lack of justice, the cost of living — is snowballing.
Poll after poll has revealed deep distrust of Greece’s political parties, judiciary and media. Regarding the rail crash investigation, almost three in four citizens believe “there is a government effort to cover up responsibilities.” The facts of the case alone ― that in a modern European country in 2023, two trains could have been allowed to run on the same line for 12 minutes until they collided, killing 57 people ― feed a sense of insecurity, people said.
“We have a political environment in flux, a whole system in transition,” said Costas Eleftheriou, an assistant professor at the Democritus University of Thrace and coordinator of political analysis at the ENA Institute for Alternative Policies, an Athens think tank. “The dominant party is destabilized while the opposition from the right or the left is completely fragmented. Political representatives are seen as part of the problem, and as long as this is the case, a large part of society doesn’t know what to vote for.”
What ails the state now resembles a laundry list. In the summer of 2022 a sprawling espionage drama erupted, with Predator spyware discovered on phones belonging to opposition leaders, ministers, military chiefs, journalists and businesspeople. Last year, judicial authorities cleared all state officials and state services of wrongdoing, while journalists pursuing the case have been prosecuted.
European prosecutors are investigating a massive farm fraud and have reported “attacks” and “discrimination” against their staff. Last month, Greece’s opposition parties demanded an investigation of the government’s ties to a politically connected communications company that they link to shadow financing and online propaganda for the ruling party.
But despite all this, New Democracy is still comfortably atop the party standings. If elections were held today, the center-right party would get around 29 percent, polls indicate, with the election winner needing around 38 percent of the vote to form a majority government. Support fluctuates, however: A month ago New Democracy was closer to 24 percent.
