Believe it or not but I actually once sat at a dinner party of Novo Demokratia. Frankly, I do not remember if at the time there were nearby elections or whether this was just an Athenian version of spending a regular Saturday evening.
I will have been rather indifferent to the rise of the occasion and just extremely grateful for being allowed into such an insiders event and good company, so early what was to become an interesting academic year away from what was familiar.
Perhaps the festive optimism in the room was partially attributable to the amount of whisky served during the meal, but it will have been principally because Pasok was in government and - therefore - it would soon be Nova Demokratia's turn. That's the way it had been and thus always would be ....
I find it hard not to be charmed with the literally unorthodox struggle of Syriza, with a young and rebelling leadership, eager and so far able to get into action alongside political groups that portray some very opposite beliefs, consciously causing the establishment at home and away wondering how to match what's coming, by conventional measures of left and right and the meaning of structural reform.
Syriza is certainly stirring things up and not only within the conventional political arena but equally so amongst the civil groups that have not been able to do much more than staging protests, sometimes very violent ones and it is exactly this combination or unification of powers that - rightfully - worries countries where a streetwise passionate extremism has been absent from the administration of their economies.
There is no question the Greek population will face some new hard shifts but at least there will be a reasonable general feeling it is by sovereign choice, which makes it easier to live with the consequences.
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