The referendum has taken its toll
By TIME
ON THE morning of January 25th, with the promise of a better future from an upstart political phenomenon called Syriza on her mind, Vivi, a 41-year-old mother of two in Athens, couldn’t wait for polls to open. On September 20th, when Greeks are expected to march back to polling booths for the third time this year, she is staying put. “They all turned out to be the same,” she says. “Why do we even need an election? I thought we gave them power to find solutions, not call a vote every time they can’t work things out.”
But with unemployment stubbornly above 20% and in the wake of the economic chaos touched off by the imposition of capital controls in July, Vivi knows that things for her could be worse. Take Georgia Galtemi. Once employed in a well-paid pharmaceutical job, the 35-year-old’s new wage of €4.50 an hour ($5.00) woudn’t buy a carrot juice at the posh cafe where she now works. Without political stability, her chances of getting her life back on track look fairly slim. “Businesses find it hard to take on staff because they have no idea if they will be around in a month’s time,” she says. The shaky political situation, capital controls and ever-changing tax regulations make it difficult for companies to plan ahead.
Among her circle of friends and family, the celebratory atmosphere of July’s referendum, in which Greeks rejected European austerity—to no effect—has given way to a mood of corrosive cynicism. Many of those who supported the leftist Syriza government hoping to initiate an era of honest politicians feel betrayed. Alexis Tsipras promised an end to austerity. But when Europe made plain that Greece could not have that and its place in the euro zone, he moved instead to strike another harsh deal with Europe. As she puts it, no one sees the point in another vote. Besides, she says, there is no one worth voting for. Syriza, which promised much, has repeatedly disappointed. Most recently, a referendum on an EU bailout package was roundly rejected by Greek voters. Soon after, the government said it would hike taxes on private education by 23%. Salaries may fall by up to 26%. As for taxation, no one knows what to expect.
The disillusionment is visible in polling data released ahead of the September 20th general election, the fourth Greece has seen since May 2012. The two main parties (Syriza and New Democracy) are nowhere near a majority. Between a fifth and a tenth of voters remain undecided. Vassilis Leventis of the Centrist Union, long considered a political joke, seems set to enter parliament for the first time. His antics have long kept his party on the margins of Greek political life; famous for his long-winded live shows, Mr Leventis is best known for calling upon the Gods to spread death among the leaders of Greece’s mainstream parties.
Those who aren’t cynical are apathetic. Returning to his native Thessaloniki in July, after three years of working in Germany and Britain, Giorgos Galanis, a radio DJ, says that, “People feel disgusted and suspicious. I try to stay uninvolved to avoid getting depressed. I don’t mind voting every so often, so long as there is a reason. This time I just fail to see it.”
His views are echoed by Christina Goutsiou, the owner of a small Athenian hair-dressing salon. A keen voter in past elections, Ms Goutsiou says she may choose to spoil her ballot. Despite her disillusionment, however, she consoles herself by looking at the larger picture. “I see desperate refugees reaching Greece in their thousands every day and I tell myself, imagine being in their shoes. It’s just a pointless election, we’ll survive it.”
The most likely outcome of next week’s ballot is yet another coalition and yet more austerity. But don’t bet on it. Tsipras, whose party is likely to win the most seats, is against alliances with other major parties. If the numbers do not add up and the big parties fail to reach an agreement, next week’s election might just lead to another.
