If a political party can so recklessly undermine itself, crawling back to power by distorting what is democratic and what is dangerous for the country, then it has run its course
At a time when the Chairman of the Defense Committee, Evgenios Hamboullas, proposed renaming the Ministry of Defense to “Defense and Liberation”—thereby underscoring the dangerous frivolity of the situation—a statement by DIKO’s parliamentary representative, Panikos Leonidou, to Christos Michalaros, regarding the possibility of the two parties joining forces alongside Nicos Christodoulides, was quite revealing of the party’s intentions. And indicative of its predetermined course. Without principled positions, without consistency, and above all, without dignity.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
First, Nikolas Papadopoulos did not clearly rule out the possibility of cooperation with ELAM. This paved the way for the opportunistic stance he subsequently adopted. A telling example is the interview given by DIKO Vice President and Minister of Energy Michalis Damianou to Andreas Kimitris. He subtly undermined Nikolas Papadopoulos as a potential candidate, arguing that Papadopoulos’s own candidacy would not lead to an election victory. And after making it clear that Christodoulides’ candidacy is—in his view—the only solution for DIKO, he emphasized that no one can prevent any political faction —even ELAM—from supporting President Christodoulides. He therefore raised the question of whether there are, after all, any limits to opportunism and the lust for power.
However provocative Michalis Damianou’s stance may have been, what came as a surprise was that Panikos Leonidou could take the discussion even further. He mumbled that “it was probably a mistake” for ELAM to be outside the democratic spectrum, characterizing the other parties’ move as “an initial reaction.” As if whether a party becomes anti-democratic were a matter of a spur-of-the-moment personal decision rather than the political positions that place it outside the democratic spectrum. A party that proudly declared itself an offshoot of Golden Dawn when it was elected. A far-right party that peddles hate speech and exclusion on a daily basis.
He even argued that when you isolate someone, you might actually be empowering them. But politics does not change based on the percentage of the vote or the power one gains. It is a matter of principle; it is a matter of consistency and integrity. Will DIKO, for example, accept ELAM’s positions being incorporated into a governing program in which it will participate? Will it accept ministers from ELAM?
We’re talking about a party that had openly clashed with ELAM—referring to their neo-Nazi past and their ties to Golden Dawn. We’ve labeled them populists who represent the extremes. And we’ve warned that any increase in their representation in Parliament would lead the country into turmoil. However, according to Panikos Leonidou, as a party they do not determine everything. And the goal is to elect a president.
So they were placed in the pool of Siloam. They were rebaptized, cleansed, and given the seal of normalization.
Politics is not the life of the saints. There is constant maneuvering; there are tactical moves; but there is also something called dignity. When a party reaches the point of groveling for power, when it abandons its principles and policies just to stand on the winner’s podium, then it has lost every shred of respect. Both from the citizens and from its potential allies. Most importantly, however, a party that is willing to distort what is democratic and what is dangerous for the country, to so crassly betray its own principles just to cling to power, is likely a party that has run its course. And one that has nothing left to offer the country and its citizens.
