V. Venizelos: “Managing failure is more important than managing success”

Evangelos Venizelos spoke, among other things, about his withdrawal from radical politics, whether he could play a role as an institutional counterweight and the difference between left and right.

In particular, Mr. Alexis Tsipras resigned from the leadership of Syriza Venizelos said, “But those who are happy and those who are sad should all know that at some point they will fail or even leave. Everyone ». At the same time, he spoke about the “generality” of the parties “against the system represented in the current parliament.”

Finally, he also answered the question of whether he thought of becoming a literary writer.

His full interview:

Monday afternoon, 3/7/2023, at Stink Bishop’s, Colonnake. Good fish with or without sauce. The serving woman has perfect Far Eastern features and perfect command of the Greek language. At one point it rained on the chair legs. But who pays attention to weather events when he has the talent of Vangelis Venizelos in front of him?

Dear President, in your entry on Wikipedia, after your highest positions in the Greek political scene, I read the following: “Today, he withdraws from active politics, prefers teaching, and returns to the seat of constitutional law.” How well does this “desire” correspond to reality? I remember you as a great teacher from the two or three lessons I had in the early 1980s (I was from another school), but I believe you eat the flesh of participating in active politics.

My withdrawal from active politics in 2019 and particularly from parliament in 2019 was not my choice but the decision of the PASOK leadership at that time. Well, my return to the university and the law and particularly the formation of the “evolutionary” sphere, as I say, would not have happened if things had developed linearly and with a certain degree of inertia. However, in retrospect and as a result, all of this makes for a very interesting field and offers me an opportunity for a political intervention. If the question is whether I miss Parliament today after four years, I declare my absolute respect for the parliamentary system and Parliament, and my answer is that I do not miss it, even in the present system.

“A Member of Parliament cannot act as an institutional counterweight”

Are you unable to play the role of a very important institutional counterweight to the state?

A Member of Parliament, no matter how independent he may be from his party, and no matter how likely he is to interfere with the rules of Parliament, he cannot act as an institutional counterweight. I did this during the period 2015-2019 because the arrangement of forces would give added value to my interventions. In the infamous first half of 2015, I was the party leader, and for the rest of the period, the majority made me a target and therefore an interloper and adversary. At that time I was not speaking individually or on behalf of PASOK, but on behalf of the whole spectrum that goes to liberal democracy and the country’s European identity.

I have warm sympathy for Katerina Sakellaropoulou because of her human face, her empathy, the fact that she has achieved the impossible, not to assume the style of the president. Do you think you would do well in a higher position?

This is a confusing question. First of all, I did not expect to meet Katerina Sakellaropoulou as PtD, we have decades of friendship. As president, he performs his duties impeccably, it’s political anyway, and I like his style.

During the most difficult period in Greece in the last decades, when you co-ruled with Antonis Samaras, I remember that some columnist, usually very cynical, decided very seriously that you were the most valuable person in Greece. The fate of the country really depends on you. Any comments?

They once called Konstantinos Karamanlis “You are a god!” They cheered with slogans. And he replied reproachfully: “I don’t need exaggerations.”

During the SYRIZA government (in collaboration with the far-right ANEL, let’s not forget), you invented a word for the political behavior of Syrians who made history: you talked about “unveiling” political life. They have proved it in the opposition too by their vile attacks on the PM’s person and others. Yet at one point you seemed to be leaning towards the “extoglanisers”. Do you politicians forget easily?

“We are politicians” means nothing. Everyone has their own path and approach. But you are re-creating a profound misconception organized communicatively in an era dominated by the issue of wiretapping, that defending the rule of law and fundamental rights and criticizing the government was aligned with Syriza. Anyone who has “signs” of conflict with Syriza comparable to mine, please come and show me. Now, of course, the argument “don’t criticize the evil Syriza for not being favorable, let’s relive the first half of 2015” is not valid, and everyone is judged individually.

“Failure comes to everyone at some point, or even retirement.”

Of course I now ask you about Alexis Tsipras and his resignation. Do you have some sympathy for the defeated leader, or do you support his disastrous policy towards Greece and the civil war that has kept us alive?

Personally, I always find it easier to leave the office. So it was delayed by a few days. But everyone should know that happy people and sad people alike, failure, or even retirement, comes to everyone at some point. Managing failure is more demanding than managing success. However, Mr. I will not choose a moment of failure and disengagement to form my critique of Tsipras’s moment of great power.

You said somewhere that the issue of “staying in Europe” ended up being symbolic. That’s bad; Personally, this movement defined me. Because Europe is a democratic institution.

The country’s European and broadly Western character, its participation in the European Union and the Eurozone are its historical, institutional and economic heritage. Her condition. On the other hand, “Identity” is a movement that takes a lighter risk of the country’s European participation, which accumulated 62% in the “referendum”. In 2015 we could not stay in Europe because we had big rallies, but primarily because the governments of 2010-2014 implemented a very hard policy with huge political costs, and finally the 2015 rulers did not dare to reverse its takeover. . Some of the 2015 “Yes” citizens kept a safe distance from those who made difficult decisions in the 2012 elections, the 2014 European elections and the decisive elections of January 2015.

Do you think the distinction between left and right makes sense today? So where does that put you?

The left-right distinction has a historical and “terrestrial” value. It refers to membership in different value traditions or presuppositions. However, the acquisition of European liberal democracy is a historical combination in which all major European political families have contributed. The obsession with liberal democracy, the European social order, important identity issues (religious, ethnic, sexual, etc. identities), the relationship between competitiveness and social justice and solidarity, and the attitude towards the old are important today. and new inequalities, and finally the distinction between progress and maintenance. The latter often causes the poles to shift, because traditional left opinion often supports conservative policies and acts defensively, leaving the field of “change” free for forces traditionally ranked on the right side of the spectrum. I personally think that the defense of liberal democracy, the rule of law and human rights now respond better to the real role than the traditional “left-right” distinction.

“The solution point of left and right is not the center”

However, Kyriakos Mitsotakis sits “round” the center. How politically different are you really from the Prime Minister?

I don’t live with the anxiety of being different than anyone else. There are political choices by Kyriakos Mitsotakis that I happily agree with, but there are also choices and practices that I completely disagree with. However, the center is not a clear point of left and right. This is a very demanding approach to the quality of democracy.

I’d like a comment on Nikos Androlakis, your turn – if I’m not mistaken – political child. Did he also commit parricide?

In my day Nikos Androlakis was PASOK’s secretary and I urged him to run for the European Parliament. Now he has at his disposal a good starting point, an interesting moment and an opportunity to present a modern political personality, impartial and inclusive person in Parliament. I hope he speaks for the future and not the past.

“Spartans”: Should the far right be represented in parliament or is it better to try to prevent it?

No one, an individual or a group can be excluded from exercising their political rights purely on ideological and political criteria. Prohibitions are linked to the commission of offences, which involve the use of physical or highly symbolic violence, and in the debate on amendment of the Constitution, the question of inclusion of Article 29 arises. Anti-establishment parties are represented in today’s parliament. They are all versions of identity resistance that question liberal democracy. It starts with the so-called dynamic (radical) right of identity in Europe and internationally.

In your speech at the launch of your book, “War Options 2009-2022,” ask yourself the following question: “What made me take responsibility? Patriotism? Responsibility? A deep vanity in touch with history?’ I am, of course, interested in the latter. Most people want to be “this,” as Cavafy says. It seems to me that you want a little more.

It doesn’t matter what we want. We are moving into the footnotes of history anyway. However, during this period that the book refers to, the era we live in today was compromised and established.

“I am a lover of literature”

We know you are also an avid reader of literature. Have you ever thought of becoming a fiction writer? And what will you write? A poem, a novel, a play?

I am a lover of literature but a prisoner of essay discourse, against which I cannot despair.

Want to say a verse that touched you deeply?

I took a close look at Krystallis Glyniadakis’ recent poetry suggestion:

“See when the audience is telling you to change your voice and when to be quiet.”