Government sources characterize the reports of former Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis on the risk of a national crisis, citing the lack of trust of citizens towards the institutions and the judiciary, as “topical”.

In particular, government sources report that “statements of lack of confidence in the judiciary, as well as attacks against it, by more and more members of the opposition make the remarks of former Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis more than timely”.

In his speech during an event for Anna Psarouda-Benaki, the former prime minister issued a clear warning about the risk of a national crisis.

In the presence of Antonis Samaras, who participated in the event, Mr. Karamanlis warned of the risk of a crisis of delegitimization of the political system, stressing that democracy and political normality presuppose the rule of law, an independent Justice and the trust of citizens, elements that, as he said, are today increasingly questioned.

“Political normalcy, especially parliamentary democracy, has as a fundamental prerequisite the orderly functioning of institutions, the consolidation of the rule of law, the essential independence of the Judiciary. When these are questioned, when a very large part of society, and indeed a constantly expanding one, believes that these are not true, that sensitive institutions are being manipulated, that parliament is being degraded, that governments ignore its needs and do not understand its anxieties, that the powerful are not controlled, that the strictness of the state is exhausted on the less favored citizens, then we have a crisis. Crisis of discredit, crisis of delegitimization, crisis of questioning and rejection of the institutional framework and the political system. These phenomena are real, they are not far from the current social perception both internationally and in Europe and in our country”, emphasized Mr. Karamanlis.

The former prime minister pointed out that “restoring the respect and trust of the citizens requires a hard and titanic effort. If it turns out to be unfeasible or fruitless, we are heading for a major institutional crisis. If it is underestimated or ignored, we are heading full speed into a political crisis of the first magnitude. I note that history teaches us that such crises, in the case of Greece primarily due to geopolitical conditions, almost always coincide with national crises”.