Editorial: Restoring trust in political parties

Ruling Democracy is targeting electoral groups that are difficult to sway.

Main opposition SYRIZA is seeking a plan to rebuild its ties with citizens.

Regardless of political planning and how it serves electoral objectives, the overarching issue is how to restore the trust of the people in political parties.

The issue is crucial for parliamentarism and for our very democracy, as political parties are the foundation and the basic poles for the smooth functioning of our form of government.

Antitheses exist, as they should, and are expressed through intense clashes.

Democratic political parties, however, each time set the boundaries and determine the measure of each dispute over plans for the country’s future.

It is on that basis that citizens judge them.

People seek persuasive solutions to the problems of daily life, not hollow rhetoric and populist pronouncements.

The youth, working people, businesses small and large, and pensioners constitute critical pools of voters, each with its particular characteristics.

They are not electoral audiences that seek simplistic answers to complex issues.

Political parties, that have a long tradition and have undergone transformations that respond to the demands of each era, must remain at the heart of the overall political equation.

Today, parties have an obligation to regain the trust of the citizenry.