Editorial Ta Nea: Political polarisation

Those who hoped that the country’s path toward general elections would be calm have been belied.

The confirmation of a meeting between former SYRIZA Minister Nikos Pappas and businessman Christos Kalogritsas, with the aim of creating a pro-SYRIZA television channel, and the confirmation of the National Intelligence Service’s surveillance of prominent individuals – as revealed by the president of Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy, Christos Rammos, in a letter he sent to political party leaders – have heightened political polarisation.

If one adds to that the affair of the alleged “dead girl Maria” in the Evros Greek-Turkish border region, it is obvious that the political terrain is on fire.

Developments are extremely rapid.

Main opposition SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras can no longer maintain that the trial of a top party cadre by a Special Court is a conspiracy designed by his opponents.

For his part, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis can no longer hope that the surveillance affair will be overshadowed by other, more important issues

Citizens may indeed be more interested in the cost of living than the machinations of a former minister or the wiretapping of the phone of a political party leader, but affairs often follow their own rules and develop their own dynamic.

Right now, it is necessary that everyone remain calm and abide by the law.

The filing of lawsuits, the undertaking of dubious initiatives, attacks against heads of independent authorities, and the effort of the main opposition leader to involve the President of the Republic in these matters are all moves that do not shed light on these cases that have been prominent in current affairs.

Instead, they serve to further confuse citizens,