My electoral manifesto in 600 words

My electoral manifesto in 600 words

Manos Matsaganis

In normal times normal people are quite happy to leave politics to politicians. But our times are anything but normal: the general election of May the 6th 2012 may well prove crucial for the future of Greece. Which is why many normal people are taking an active role in politics, some for the first time.

Add to that a continuous interest in political ideas, a firm commitment to left-of-centre politics, a personal record interspersed with brief episodes of intense participation in political activities, and a professional obsession with the distributional impact of public policy, and you get the context of my decision to be a candidate for Democratic Left in central Athens.

My electoral programme in a nutshell:

·                Greece’s place is at the heart of Europe. There is no future for the country outside the EU. A default would inevitably be a messy affair: it would traumatise ordinary Greeks, and would poison Greece’s relationship with our European partners for many years to come.

·                Greece’s currency is the Euro. The current state of the Eurozone is far from ideal: closer coordination of national policies and a revival of public investment EU-wide would help end the recession and reduce joblessness throughout Europe. Such a shift in European policy would be beneficial to Greece, but to a large extent lies beyond our control. In the meantime, our main concern should be to put our own house in order.

·                The crisis is not limited to Greece, but the deeper causes of the Greek crisis are domestic. Chronic large deficits are the result of clientelism and corruption in politics; inefficient public administration; public sector institutions in urgent need of reform; and a business culture geared to public procurement contracts secured by cultivating connections with politicians and bureaucrats. Unless we break with all this, there can be no sustainable growth for the Greek economy. This is why reducing public deficits and reforming state institutions should be our top priorities.

·                If austerity is inescapable, at least for some time, we should see that it is fair. We can do this by distributing the burden of fiscal adjustment equitably; by reducing waste and inefficiency throughout the public sector; by guaranteeing essential public services; and by protecting effectively the weakest of all victims of the recession.

·                Greece’s welfare state is proving unfit for the crisis. As unemployment figures climb to a record high, there is little to stop those suffering job loss and/or income loss from falling through the cracks into extreme poverty. This is why strengthening the social safety net should be a key priority. Since social expenditure is quite high on aggregate, this need not be inconsistent with fiscal consolidation: it can be achieved by rationing resources according to need, rather than according to the political power of recipients.

·                Emigration has once again become an attractive option to many. It is usually young, open-minded, highly-qualified Greeks who decide to start a new life abroad, or stay there when their studies are completed. Good for them, terribly bad for the country. Our new emigrants do not simply escape unemployment: they also reject a labour market where merit often counts for little, and where initiative and originality are often met with hostility. This is why there will be no end to the brain drain, unless we put our house in order.

We Greeks take pride in being ingenious, inventive and resourceful – just like Ulysses. If this is true, I really don’t know. But if it is, now is the time to prove it: not only to those watching us in the rest of the world, but mainly to ourselves.