‘Do you see anyone better?’

This government often shifts responsibility to third parties: The high cost of living is blamed on "imported inflation," soaring electricity prices on the war in Ukraine, and destructive wildfires on "uncleared plots," among other things. While there may be some truth to these claims, they do not address the problem comprehensively. Worse, they obscure underlying issues, allowing them to persist.

At the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took this to the extreme. When asked: "When will you decide on the president of the republic and based on what criteria? Will you use the revised constitutional provision requiring only 151 votes, or will you seek broader consensus?", he deflected the responsibility onto the media.

"I regret the recycling of this discussion," he said. "However, it is very unfair to both [the president of the...