Editorial: Performance

The order should have been given by the prime minister from the first moment.

He should have ordered that there will be no communications show on the ashes of fire-ravaged Mati, and no communications-oriented management of the tragedy.

From the first moment, the prime minister did the opposite, and starred in three shows, pertaining to the deadly fires.

The first was on the night of the tragedy, when he appeared at the Fire Service Operations Centre and asked about the winds. Later it became known that the competent officials – and consequently the prime minister himself – already knew that there were dead victims.

The PM did not learn his lesson from that cynical performance.

Just a few days after the tragedy with dozens of deaths, the prime minister secretly visited Mati, with just a single camera, avoiding any meeting with the families that lost their loved ones and property.

Yesterday, the PM visited the area again, with more cameras this time and with draconian security measures. There, he was again the star of the show, and was accompanied by various ministers and local government authorities, who have stubbornly refused to assume any responsibility – the Attica Prefect and the Mayor of Marathon.

The prime minister apparently believes that with communications shows, a tragic event will cease being tragic. That may be why he spoke of the “sad publicity of the first days”.

In fact, such shows are the safest way for society not to be protected from the prospect of a new tragedy.