Now Comes Government: The Greek Election Fallout

The conservative party that supports austerity measures and continued membership in the European Union won Sunday’s vote. Ironically, that may have been the easy part.

Now they have to begin the complicated task of forming a coalition government.

Because of the complex nature of the task awaiting the perspective Greek government, they want to form a majority cabinet that can force through its’ agenda.

However, you also want to form this majority using the fewest number of parties possible. A large number of parties means a greater number of interests that need to be accounted for. Agreements become tougher.

I think we can all agree that the last thing the Greek people need right now is the self-interest of politicians.

 Yet, playing politics is a big part of what makes a politician, a politician.

 Just because Greece is in trouble, doesn’t mean that the Greek people should expect politicians to come back to humanity.

I’m very much afraid that the election was the easy part for Greece.

Why a Secular and Islamist Coalition Makes Sense

As coalition governments go, this could be one of the more interesting pairings, I’ve ever seen. Two secular parties are joining with an Islamist party to form a coalition government that will guide Tunisia following the uprising that began the Arab Spring. But can a mixed secular-Islamic party government work?

At first blush, the coalition sounded like an absolute car crash waiting to happen. However, upon further thought, it might not be the world’s worst idea. The guiding thought behind coalition government is to provide representation to the greatest number of people. By producing a coalition, you can represent both Islamic and secular interests while hopefully keeping dissent down.

The whole revolution occurred in the first place because the rulers were not responsive to Tunisians. It would be a dangerous mistake to then impose a heavily centralized majoritarian system on a recently freed people. While the coalition may seem unorthodox or dangerous to the outsider, I think that we should give the people of Tunisia some leeway here. No one knows the on the ground reality better than them.

 It is perhaps the best trust of a new democracy to let them succeed or fail on their own.