Europe

Fifty years after military junta, Greece still reflects divisions of right and left, ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’

Greece Letter: Country has a strong government, with New Democracy back in power holding an overall majority. But younger people are disaffected by ongoing social and structural problems

Greece's newly re-elected prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (left) poses with Greek president Katerina Sakellaropoulou (centre) and Archbishop of Athens and All Greece, Ieronymos II of Athens, after a swearing in ceremony at the presidential palace in Athens on June 26th, 2023 following the general elections. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty

Richard Pine
Mon Apr 29 2024 - 05:00

In the past month, Greeks have been intensively discussing the nature of their democracy. The occasion is the 50th anniversary of the collapse in 1974 of the military junta which had dominated the country for the previous seven years. The “return to democracy” is officially known in Greece as “Metapolitefsi”, but part of the present debate focuses on what this actually means.

The word is difficult to translate: basically it means “regime change”, with the implication that the change is for the better. “Metapolitefsi” ushered in a transitional period in which, some would argue, we are still living, with question marks over what democracy has achieved in the past 50 years.

In 1974, Konstantinos Karamanlis became prime minister with the appropriately named “New Democracy” party (ND), to be succeeded in 1981 by the socialist Pasok under Andreas Papandreou. The new governance certainly introduced many welcome changes: the abolition of the monarchy (which had been a point of contention since the foundation of the state); the designation of “demotic” rather than “mandarin” or “katharevousa” as the state’s official form of the language; gender equality; the return of the left to Greek politics with the unbanning of the Communist Party (KKE); and, in 1981, Greece joining the then European Economic Community (EEC), with the slogan “Greece belongs to the West”. This momentum continues, with current prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaking of “a fast convergence with Europe”.

Dynastic politics has been both a stabilising factor and a democratic deficit. Family repercussions go back to the early 20th century and are still active. One of Karamanlis’s nephews would become prime minister from 2004 to 2009, while another served as a government minister from 2019 to 2023. Papandreou was both the son and father of prime ministers, while another of his sons is today an MEP. Mitsotakis is himself the son of a former prime minister. And clientelism is a continuing feature of both politics and commerce.

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A major element in today’s debate is the extent to which Greece is committed to the West, and in particular to the EU. Although it was accepted that the financial crisis from 2010 onwards was not a uniquely Greek problem, the deeper involvement of the EU and the international financial world accentuated the fact that Greece was indentured to capitalist politics.

[ Richard Pine: Bewildered Greece becomes refugee from reality ]

Last month, an opinion poll indicated a generational split between those older citizens who regard the “Metapolitefsi” favourably and people under 50 who see the country’s present problems stemming from financial and social crises. Thirty per cent of those polled regard the current state of democracy as unsatisfactory, with their anxieties focused not on the progress of democratisation but on the economic status of the country and how politicians have handled it. Today’s stability – both political and economic – is seen as inherently flawed.

It has been said that the return to democracy in 1974 ‘overcame the polarisations of the past’

Greece has a strong government, with ND back in power with an overall majority. But younger people are disaffected by ongoing social and structural problems including growing income inequality, the threat to traditional work practices from both inflation and AI, an imperfect judicial system, a top-heavy public sector, mass migration (including the refugee crisis), the need to balance tourism development with environmental protection, regional concerns including the Ukraine war and the continuing uncertainty in the Middle East, plus universal concerns such as climate change.

It has been said (by, among others, influential historian Mark Mazower) that the return to democracy in 1974 “overcame the polarisations of the past”. But many aspects of democracy in Greece continue to reflect the divisions in society between right and left, the “haves” and the “have nots”.

One of the factors putting a question mark over modern politics is the position of the Greek Orthodox Church. This came to a head in the recent legislation for same-sex marriage, which the church vigorously opposed. The divisive nature of the legislation persists, with criticism of the Greek president, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, for supporting the new law. The Orthodox Church not only made it impossible for the president to attend the formal service marking the beginning of Lent, but also boycotted her official luncheon on the same day. The effective exclusion of Sakellaropoulou from church affairs has dismayed younger Greeks in particular.

The church’s position seems to be unquestioned in the hearts of Greeks, whatever about its status in their minds. It has been instrumental in the withdrawal of textbooks that were regarded as “unpatriotic”. One history textbook was withdrawn from school use in 2007 after the church led opposition, asserting “We have history and tradition and it is a crime of extreme betrayal trying to abolish those things for which our fathers fought” – implying a family- and ethnicity-based orthodoxy.

So the war of independence (to which this refers), and the massive schisms in society during the later 19th and early 20th centuries which resulted from that war, as Greece staggered towards democracy, right through the dictatorship starting in 1936 and the civil war of 1945-48, continue as question marks over the celebrations of “Metapolitefsi” in the long aftermath of the military junta.

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