Editorial: Sacrifice

One can sacrifice many things in the context of a cabinet reshuffle.

Economic development is not one of them.

This is especially true at a time when the country needs to ply forward, and when even a small step can seem like a leap forward for an economy battered by years of crisis.

Yet, the prime minister, hostage to intra-party rivalries and the need to maintain balances, within the PM’s office and more generally, chose to sacrifice development.

He gave the crucial economy and development portfolio to a government cadre, Deputy Premier Yannis Dragasakis, who may have the desire, but may not have the time to dedicate himself to this mission.

All this is happening when the rest of Europe, without exception, is on the way to recovery, with notable results.
Our country was the only one that was left back, gasping every step of the way.

Consequently, it was extremely necessary at this point for whoever was appointed as economy and development minister to have both knowledge of the investment environment, and the stamina to undertake the enormous task of attracting investments.

It is obvious that an attitude of mere management and of political inertia cannot serve this aim.

The prime minister had a duty to consider all this, before engaging in games of intra-governmental balances, especially since his government has already harmed the economy decisively.