Looking back at the history of the Greek Third Republic, there are four pivotal dates: July 24, 1974, October 18, 1981, June 1989-April 1990, and 2015. The twelve-month period between June 18, 1989 and On April 8, 1990, it has the smallest imprint on the public consciousness of the four, perhaps because it was long, perhaps because it was not identified exclusively with a large, instantaneous “explosion.” But that doesn’t mean it’s less important than the rest. This is a multifaceted and deep crisis that has put the country on a new trajectory.

This period condenses four parallel and interconnected crises. First, the political crisis that ended the first and “purest” period of PASOK’s rule, that is, the period marked by the personality of Andreas Papandreou. He, of course, will return to power in 1993, but already as a shadow of himself, and PASOK will go a completely different way. During this period, a deep social crisis erupted: major financial scandals, riots and strikes, as well as the culmination of the action of a terrorist organization on November 17 with the assassination of Pavlos Bakoyannis. Then a strong smell of decadence and the end of an era dominates. An acute economic crisis also erupted, with peaks in government deficits and strong inflationary pressures. It is not known how close we have come to disorderly bankruptcy. Finally, the crisis is institutional in nature. On the one hand, the political system fails to cope with the fundamental issue of running the country: it took three re-elections and two stillborn coalition governments to form a capable government. On the other hand, the then dominant theme of clearing up scandals and punishing the guilty degenerates, which will contribute to the long-term obsolescence of politics and politicians.

Let us recall the main facts. Papandreou’s serious illness, which almost cost him his life, and his hasty departure to England in August 1988 for an emergency operation, disorganized PASOK, which acted in its own way. It is doubtful that the Koskotas scandal would have erupted at all without such a development. Right and left waved the purge flag, and in the June 18, 1989 elections, New Democracy won a high percentage (44.25%), but failed to form an autonomous government due to a particularly proportional electoral law. At the same time, PASOK (39.15%) is holding on. The result of this is an unimaginable collaboration between right and left, no doubt of great symbolic value, but of a specific purpose and of limited duration. Four months later, with the Auriani newspaper as its main tool and the anti-right struggle as its banner, PASOK will succeed in the November 5 elections to influence the left, raising its percentage to 40.67%. New Democracy gains even more, reaching 46.19%, but again fails to win a parliamentary majority. An interesting detail: in this election (and in the next), Mikis Theodorakis with N.D. and Maria Faraduri with PASOK.

What follows is a second government of interim cooperation, this time a universal government of three parties led by 86-year-old economist Xenophon Zolotas. As the economic crisis escalates dangerously, the country is led to a third election on April 8, 1990. This time ND. he reaches 46.88% with 150 MPs elected and finally forms a government with Prime Minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis after gaining the support of a single MP from Kostis Stephanopoulos’s party. This slim majority proved to be its Achilles’ heel, as it was overthrown in 1993 by Antonis Samaras.

On the whole, despite the difficulties, this period can be seen as a serious and ultimately successful test of the country’s democratic institutions.

The crisis of 1989-1990 marked the end of an entire era and the beginning of a new one. The network of practices and policies created by PASOK since 1981 and later known as populism has reached its limits, which were also the limits of the democratic state itself. Of course, I do not mean that populism has ceased to be a key component of the country’s political life – at least it has covered almost the entire spectrum of political forces and has become consolidated, i.e. became a systemic feature. However, at the same time, all this practice has become demoralized, having lost the “cruel” character that it had in the 80s. Then the foundations were laid for the normalization of political competition, with a gradual decrease in polarization and political fandom. Parties, for example, continued to organize mass campaign rallies with portable supporters and plastic flags, but despite noble organizational efforts, the situation has already changed. This period simultaneously laid the foundations for the transformation of PASOK both with Papandreou’s own political shift in a much more institutional direction and his succession by Kostas Simitis.

On the whole, despite the difficulties and problems, this period can be seen as a significant and ultimately successful test of the country’s democratic institutions. These institutions may have had several problematic aspects, but they turned out to be healthy: they had depth and resilience. However, although the political system turned the page and made a huge leap in participation in the Europroject, with all the changes in its production model that entailed, it was unable to cure some of the serious pathologies that continued to creep in: public administration, education and justice. could not be completed, as a result of which the country’s competitiveness was stuck with the consequences known to us.

This is perhaps the most important lesson of the 1989-1990 period for the present: without deep cuts that will affect competitiveness, the country risks remaining the stronghold of the next big international storm.

And Mega Happened

On Monday, November 20, 1989, at 15:00, thousands of Greeks watched with delight the opening of the first private television station in the country. Another state monopoly, already broken in radio since 1987, but partially also in television with free broadcasting of foreign satellite channels (including MTV) in the same year, is crumbling in a wave.

Love can know

“We’re going down and down / deeper and deeper / when will we finally hit the bottom?” In 1988, Nikos Portokaloglou writes a song, in the lyrics of which one can feel the atmosphere of disappointment and rot caused by the Koskotas scandal.

That night…

They were not in the midst of their mass run. They didn’t have Roger Waters anymore. But in 1989 we didn’t have room to condemn Pink Floyd. And we did very well. Because they gave us back the sold-out Athens with one of the best, most spectacular, most unforgettable concert experiences that a whole generation should remember. On May 31, 1989, History was made at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

Huge crazy house

It was, of course, strange that the newly impeached and the newly impeached cooperated in the government of Zolotos, when the former spoke of “purges” and swindlers, and the latter about the “dirty 89th” and scoundrels. I remember discussing this issue with Konstantinos Karamanlis at his home in Polithia. He was particularly concerned about all this and strongly opposed the transfer of Papandreou to the Special Court and the formation of the left-wing governments of Zhannetakis and Zolotas. He characteristically said to me:
“These are strange things. Nonsense. False situations are not cured by false solutions. I told Mitsotakis to go to the polls immediately. Don’t do all those tricks. He didn’t hear me.” A little later, he actually publicly announced impeachments and joint governments that turned Greece into a huge lunatic asylum.

PANOS LUKAKOS
Journalist

Fast food for everyone

Fast food was not brought to Greece by McDonald’s, which opened its first restaurant in Greece on Syntagma Square in November 1991, a year and a half after the historic opening of the corresponding store in Moscow. Since 1989, they have been preceded by the legendary Wendy’s in Stadiou, the two major players in the Greek market (Goody’s and Hambo) and, above all, the many local (and well-known) burgers that have flourished since the late 70s in many parts of the city. Athens and Thessaloniki.

In the constellation CLICK

Despite what is complained about in the 80s for Greece, these were years of rapid social and economic modernization. The April 1987 issue of CLICK magazine reflects the rapid change in the press, with bold and sometimes provocative themes that marked the transition from the most immature era of post-colonialism to a completely different one, where the protagonists were not politics or ideas, but consumption and pop culture.

Mr. Stathis N. Kalivas is Professor of Political Science and Gladstone Chair at the University of Oxford.

zealNarrated by: Dimitris Rigopoulos