Showing off is everything

The prime minister appeared in a Tom Cruise-style, Top Gun-esque photo shoot in an attempt to sanitise his much-tarnished political reputation.

The photo shoot was cleverly planned and clearly staged. The pilots were lined up left and right so that at the very top, at the “tip of the spear,” was the Prime Minister, who was also right on the extension of the Canadair’s nose in the background, with two engines on top, symbols of power and strength. It is reminiscent of, and probably a conscious copy of, the carefully staged shots of the late Tony Scott, director of the first and, in my opinion, unrivaled “Top Gun.”

It captures an idealized image of the prime minister's own rhetoric: a leader who goes into battle confidently and assertively, always one step ahead of the rest.

But in reality, this photo, like the whole staging of the Prime Minister's visit to the Elefsina airbase today, is nothing more than an urgent attempt to repair the rather tarnished reputation of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. After all, the point is not that he went to the airbase today, but mainly that he did not dare to visit the burned areas of Attica. In other words, he decided to violate even this traditional political protocol, according to which the Prime Minister and political leaders must visit the sites of natural disasters in order to be informed about the events and get a first-hand view of the catastrophe.

Because in the case of the Prime Minister, it is obvious that the main thing is to avoid at all costs the Prime Minister being photographed against the backdrop of burnt Attica. And even more so – to avoid any possibility of encountering the wrath of the residents who, for two days, watched the actions of the one he created. headquarters of the stateA.

I am well aware that his public relations staff is responding to such criticism. That the opposition is toxically exploiting people's pain and anger, and that it is more important for the prime minister to go to those who are leading the fight and coordinating the government than to visit the burned areas. What they do not understand is that the citizens have already summed up the results.

They realized that the country was once again defenseless against fires that we have long known will be much more intense and complex. They saw in practice that assurances that we were really prepared this time turned to dust when the fire reached Halandri. They saw with their own eyes that citizens had to run with a rubber band to plug the black holes in state planning. And they are mistaken if they think that they will be able to communicatively separate the Prime Minister from the catastrophe in Attica.

Because it is the Prime Minister himself, his political and communications staff, who have spent five years cultivating the idea that he is at the center of all decisions and the heart of the executive branch. But if that is the case, then he is also the first to answer, and the one who will, understandably, have to pay the highest political price. For this reason, let the Prime Minister and his administration abandon attempts at communications management and get down to work.

I'll say it differently, Instead of the inherently inappropriate efforts to repair the damage, let them try to answer the truly burning questions:

• Why, despite the availability of large European funds for fighting forest fires and civil defence, the most we have achieved is that contracts have been awarded but projects have not been implemented?
• To what extent were the relevant measures actually implemented (and not just “contracted”)?
• Why, despite early detection and initial mobilisation to extinguish the Barnabas fire, was it allowed to get out of control and grow?
• Shouldn't all the planning from Mati onwards have been designed for exactly this situation: a fire that grows quickly and threatens residential areas? Or is all the focus on 112 and a quick evacuation to avoid casualties, not on putting out the fire?
• What exactly is happening with the air assets? How many can be in operation at any one time? What happens if, for example, we have two major fires at the same time? Are there enough assets, and what measures have been taken in this regard?
• What is the real readiness of the government and the state apparatus as a whole? Or is the tone set by deputy ministers like Vasilis Economou, who, despite being a member of parliament for East Attica, preferred to have fun in a nightclub in Rhodes instead of being on the side of his voters?
• Will the right people take responsibility for the disaster, or will we see the same tactics as in the case of the tragedy in Tempi, where the government simply gave in to itself?

These are the questions that need to be answered. And they should be answered by a prime minister who cares about substance, not about communication. At the end of the day, the country needs a leader, not another Tom Cruise.

Lefteris T. Charalambopoulos is the editor of the largest Greek publication in.gr

Editor's note: I have no doubt that in a month, at the next TIF, the population of Greece will clap joyfully, looking with delight at the great leader of the nation, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, generously handing out his promises of a better life left and right. The people of Greece will try to forget and not remember the fires and the problems of the country. And only the opposition and independent journalists will pound their heads against this wall of laziness, stupidity and indifference. But who will listen to them…

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