Restless cohabitation in the parties

The endless rumblings in SYRIZA and the prime minister's need to satisfy the "pure" right-wingers in New Democracy show how the country's two largest parties are struggling to meet the time's great changes. The climate crisis, the struggle for new balances in international politics and the economy, demographic difficulties, and the ever smaller interest of citizens in politics are threatening not only democracy but also many countries' survival. In Greece, 50 years since the restoration of democracy, with all these problems, politics remains stuck in the clash between party leaders and notables who feel too powerful to be confined by the collective effort. In PASOK, the search for new leadership - or confirmation of the present leader - is an effort to pull the party out of the ditch and, as such, is a healthy process (as long as it ends with the election, of course). The...