Transparency in politics

The Kasselakis saga would not have existed if SYRIZA – not the party in its present shape, but the old, orthodox one – had done its job properly when putting together its ballot for the last national elections or even during the vote for a new party leader. It’s been a year since Stefanos Kasselakis suddenly appeared on the Greek political stage and nine months since he was triumphantly elected leader of the country’s second biggest party. Yet, SYRIZA spokesperson Voula Kehagia claims that she does not know how many and what kind of companies the party leader is involved in or whether he transferred ownership before running for party president. The only thing she has said is that she “assumes” he probably had some kind of company when he was elected.

Apart from being comical, the Kasselakis affair is also interesting from a political perspective. We’re not referring to all the jibes and bickering, but to the scrutiny no political party has ever put its officials under, and to the fact that SYRIZA did not even do its due diligence for its leader. We know everything about the country’s fourth most important political player’s dog, but we know nothing of his political and financial history. Even the things we think we know are things he has told us himself. We imagine it’s true that he was a businessman, but we don’t know whether he was any good at it, or is someone like Donald Trump who talks a big game but has basically accomplished very little.

We know everything about the country’s fourth most important political player’s dog, but we know nothing of his political and financial history

Kasselakis jumped into the race for the SYRIZA leadership and his rivals for the post and other party officials hadn’t even read one of his articles; the Efimerida ton Syntakton newspaper revealed that aspect of his past later. They never examined what kind of businessman he was or what kinds of businesses he was involved in or what he did there. Was he a key shareholder? The CEO? The errand boy?

Even now, the only things we know are those he has told us: “Mr Kasselakis has stated that all of his stocks in businesses abroad have been transferred,” said Kehagia. So, for the time being at least, Kasselakis will remain a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma, as Winston Churchill would put it.

Thankfully we have the government’s monstrous communication machine churning its gears and we’re made privy to a few facts. New Democracy is certainly not making these revelations for the good of the country nor to promote democracy. Kasselakis probably has it right when he says the governing party is motivated by the risk lurking in the most recent opinion polls. But democracy likes competition; that’s what makes politicians better and more transparent. Therefore, regardless of its motivation, New Democracy’s demand for plenty of light to be shed on the opposition leader’s past is welcome. Some light would also have been welcome in the wiretapping affair, of course, but alas…