Yiannos Papantoniou, symbol and excuse

The Papantoniou affair is becoming a matter of deep disappointment over what happened in the country in the era when many of us believed that Greece was finding its footing in the modern world.

It is also a danger to the present and the future: It will be used by the opponents of the country's "modernizing" wing to blacken this side's successes and to provide an excuse for their own failures and divisive behavior.

Without having been judged yet, Yiannos Papantoniou is presented as a symbol of arrogance and corruption - at a personal but also collective level. This is unavoidable; there is a great popular need to see punishment meted out to those who abused the trust of voters and of their colleagues, and who helped bring the country to an impasse.

With emotions running high in recent years, the divisive lines in society have become more pronounced and each...