In the beginning of May 1989, upon my return from London, where I had stayed for three months for personal and family purposes, I found my country unusually burning with political fervor. Campaigning for the most critical parliamentary elections was well under way. Greece almost resembled a vast political “coffee house” where young and old, learned and ignorant, were passionately engaged in aggressive debates on the most recent revelations and allegations of corruption in high places, including some accusations against Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou himself.
In the face of the unprecedented political and financial scandals, in which the Socialist government of PASOK (“Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement”) was mired, the word “Catharsis,” had become a slogan in the mouths of disappointed Greek people and, indeed, of the campaigners of every political party. Even Andreas Papandreou himself, famous for his charm and his populist sensibility, had to endorse...
