And here is a view by my friend, Nick Malkoutzis, one of the sharpest observers of the Greek Ordeal:
Alexis Tsipras had a chance to make a difference. He could have made a clean break, dispensing with previous Greek governments’ cronyism and lack of vision. He had an opportunity to galvanise eurozone leaders to push for a change in economic policy. He could have led a chorus arguing that the eurozone was undermining itself by allowing problems such as Greece’s to be seen as national rather than European.
He failed on all counts. A lack of preparation, the absence of a clear plan, pervasive amateurism and unwise personnel choices undermined his efforts at home and abroad. He ambled aimlessly through his first few months in government and only over the past few weeks realised his options were running out, prompting a furious flurry of activity to avoid the Grexit – which he, at least, had the self-awareness to realise Greece could not handle.
Tsipras now faces an immense task if he is to oversee further fiscal adjustment and the implementation of structural reforms in a country that socially and economically has been brought to its knees by its own failings and those of its lenders.
The Greek leader’s gamble with the referendum has at least made him stronger in domestic political terms. This gives him the chance to clean up Greek politics, tackle corruption and overhaul the public administration – as he has promised. But it won’t be easy.
Nick Malkoutzis is deputy editor of the Athens daily Kathimerini
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