Greece: Hubris Doesn’t Win

For committing the sin of hubris (overweening pride), the Fates toppled the heroes of ancient Greece. Last week Greek voters defeated the most successful Premier in the country’s history, handsome, hard-driving Constantine Karamanlis, who had shown more than a touch of hubris when he said in a campaign speech: “The true political leader does not need the people. The people need the true political leader.”

During his eight-year reign, Karamanlis had, as he said, “transformed Greece from an Oriental village to a European country.” He brought the nation into the Common Market as an as sociate member, built dams and roads. On the average, manufacturing has grown an impressive 8% annually in the past decade, government reserves shot up by 400% , and revenues more than doubled—thanks in part to tourism, which this year grossed some $90 million. There are dark spots in this sunny picture—some 100,000 young Greeks have emigrated to West Germany to find jobs, and poverty retains its grip on primitive mountain villages. Street peddlers in Athens still haul sponges, bananas and chestnuts—but they now walk beneath glittering neon signs that reveal the internationalization of an increasingly modern economy: IBM, Siemens, Haig & Haig, Diners Club.

Rejected Advice. Strongly anti-Communist and pro-NATO, Karamanlis welded his right-wing National Radical Union into a powerful party, gave Greece the longest stretch of political stability in modern times. But there were protests, when Karamanlis was re-elected for a fourth term in 1961, that police in the back country had intimidated voters. Though many election brawls were deliberately provoked by leftists, they convinced left-wing British Laborites and other allies abroad that Greece lived under a tyranny. Last June, after King Paul and Queen Frederika rejected Karamanlis’ advice to call off a state visit to Britain because of the danger of leftist demonstrations in London, the Premier quit in a huff.

While Karamanlis sulked in a Swiss villa for three months and a caretaker Cabinet led by his political allies ruled the country, the opposition Center Union Party launched an intense election campaign. It was led by an aged Demosthenes, George Papandreou, 75, veteran of several prewar Cabinets and the nation’s first postwar Premier.

To Karamanlis’ boast that Greece has prospered, Papandreou replied: “Numbers prosper, the people suffer.” Farmers, who had benefited least from the boom because of low prices for their goods, got Papandreou’s easy promise that he would forgive their debts. Above all, Campaigner Papandreou concentrated on the old 1961 charges of election fraud, cried that he was determined to save the nation from the “fascist and terrorist” policies of Karamanlis.

No Thanks. Karamanlis, relying on his impressive economic record, campaigned as though he expected the people to thank him for running. To the surprise of almost everyone, they didn’t. A near-record turnout of 4,600,000 voters gave Papandreou’s Center Union 140 seats in the 300-member Parliament; Karamanlis’ National Radicals got 128. Winner Papandreou celebrated by dancing most of the night. Karamanlis was furious, hastily announced he was quitting politics.

After a talk with King Paul at Tatoi palace, he changed his mind. After all, Papandreou lacked a majority by eleven seats. The Premier could have a safe margin if he accepted the eager support of 30 pro-Communist Deputies, but so far pro-Western Papandreou has rejected the offer. Between now and Dec. 11, when Parliament convenes, Karamanlis hopes to attract enough Deputies to defeat the opening vote of confidence. If he succeeds, Greece will be in for new elections and another free-swinging campaign.