The 57 years since the April 21 coup, the European elections and the reinstatement of the seven-year slogans.
It has been 57 years since the Juntist coup of April 21. The “revolution” of the colonels was essentially the last spasm of a harsh post-civil state that saw its nationalist achievements being challenged as the country’s democratic forces rose, threatening to it. The collapse of the junta, 7 years later, on the occasion of the junta’s betrayal of Cyprus, was at the same time a justification for the resistance of the student movement that with the slogan of the Polytechnic uprising “Bread-Education-Freedom” he had decisively contributed to the creation of the popular background of the overthrow. The fall of the junta opened the way for the establishment of a real democracy with freedom and equality for all Greek citizens.
The leading political leaders of the first post-colonial years made sure with emblematic actions – legalization of the action of the KKE by Konstantinos Karamanlis and recognition of the National Resistance by Andreas Papandreou – to ensure the longest period of democratic normality for the country. Democracy, in addition to being stable, also proved to be durable. The dismantling of the terrorist group 17N, with the arrest and conviction of its members, as well as the repulsion, a few years later, of the invasion of the “Golden Dawn” neo-Nazis into the social and political life of the country with the imprisonment of its protagonists, were indicative events of the strength of a democracy determined to defend the principles and values it had been deprived of for many years.
Unfortunately, in the same period, the country did not manage to get rid of a series of destructive pathogens for which it paid very dearly in the course of the post-colonial transition. A series of extreme populist politicians took advantage of the difficult circumstances created to rekindle with their nationalist and divisive discourse the passions of an era that has definitively passed. One such juncture was the deep economic crisis that put to the test the great conquests of the post-colonial era such as the country’s integration into the European family. The mixed party squares of the indignant with hangings and slogans against democratic institutions trapped the majority of society in dangerous and dead ends, as was shown by the result of the 2015 anti-European referendum.
At a time when the country needed responsibility, sympathy and consensus, the extreme, allegedly patriotic on the one hand, and populist voices on the other undermined any similar effort. This is also the reason for the electoral collapse of the pro-European democratic forces for the benefit of the adventurers who did not hesitate to play the fortunes of the country crown-letters in order to occupy the government stakes. From this point of view, the fate of the three-party crisis government formed in 2012 was predetermined. However, it is worth remembering that PASOK proved to be the most politically responsible party after it voted for all three memoranda of cooperation with the European partners, assuming great political costs, at a time when the leadership of New Democracy at the time had previously followed its anti-memorandum route, while the leadership of DIMAR preferred to return to the path of co-government with Kammenos.
This year’s black anniversary coincides with the pre-election period of the crucial European elections in June. On this occasion, the seven-year slogans with obvious goals from both sides are brought back to the fore. The far-right usurpers of “Patris-Religion-Family” insist on identifying the meanings of the slogan with their nationalist and racist beliefs. And it is a shame that the ND leadership chose for its ballot some exponents of these views. As it is a shame for those on the left who remembered to shout “Bread-Education-Freedom” again. What kind of freedom and what kind of education was expressed by the divisive “us or them” and “let’s go finish them off” or the violent abolition of the free movement of ideas in the occupied “university asylum”. The “Polytechnic” cannot become a pool of Siloam for the petty party needs of old and “new” leftists.
