Who gave Floridis the right to put Turkey into the electoral equation and use a national risk as an argument for the need for governmental stability?
From political stability to fearmongering
Obviously, Floridis wanted to defend the need to have a strong and stable government. Except that in this effort, he made a politically dangerous leap. He put national security inside the ballot box. The message being emitted is almost raw blackmail toward the voter. If the ballot box does not quickly yield a government, then the country could face Turkish aggression. This is not serious political argumentation. This is fearmongering.
And indeed, fearmongering that touches on one of the most sensitive issues in Greek society: national security and relations with Turkey.
Not an ordinary MP speaking – a minister spoke
An even bigger problem is that Floridis is not just an ordinary MP who got carried away during a television or local debate. He is a minister in the Mitsotakis government. And in fact, he made this specific statement on ERT, on nationwide television. Referring to the next elections and the possibility of political instability, he argued that the critical dilemma will be whether Greece "will remain ungoverned or will be governed," during a period that, as he told ERT, is characterized by "national risk."
And the minister added: "If it remains ungoverned, let us have no doubt that there will be a rush from across." The minister invoked, among other things, the events in Evros in 2020 as well as the Imia crisis, attempting to reinforce his narrative.
Pavlos Marinakis distanced himself
It is no coincidence that Pavlos Marinakis had to intervene and distance himself from this logic, clarifying that the need for a stable government cannot be framed in such terms. In other words, the government team found itself managing a statement made by one of its own ministers. And this is perhaps the biggest political problem for the Maximos Mansion. Because the government does not only need to explain its own policy choices. It now needs to explain what its ministers actually mean when they speak publicly. Floridis wanted to help Mitsotakis... in the end, he exposed him If Floridis's goal was to reinforce the argument in favor of political stability and support Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the result was exactly the opposite. He exposed him. Because invoking Turkey, national security, and an alleged "rush from across" as an argument for the outcome of an election is an extremely heavy political choice. The question now is simple: How long will a minister appointed by and enjoying the confidence of the government continue to create problems for the government that chose him? Because this time, Floridis did not merely commit a political gaffe. He handed the opposition a ready-made political weapon and forced the Maximos Mansion to engage in damage control.
www.bankingnews.gr
Readers’ Comments