VIEWS OF THE WEEK
Ena Ena Tessara
MICHAEL LLEWELLYN-SMITH writes : The streets of Athens have been ringing once again to cries of Ena Ena Tessara (114, the article of the Constitution which assigns to the people the duty of defending the Constitution), 'Down with the traitors,' Long live Papandreou,' and even 'Down with the King.' The first indication that relations between the king and the Centre Union government might not be easy came last autumn, with a sudden announcement that the Greek army was henceforth to be known as the Royal Greek army—a proposal which created an uproar and was promptly dropped. The key to the present crisis is again the army; specifically, the alleged involvement in a secret left-wing cell called Aspida (Shield) of ex-Prime Minister George Papandreou's son.
Andreas Papandreou returned to Greece from the United States during the Karamanlis r6gime to work at the Centre of Economic Research. When the Centre Union came to power, he was given a post in the Prime Minister's Office, moving
mom there to the important Ministry of Coordina- tion. His position aroused fears of nepotism in politicians of the centre, who had been in the wilderness for more than a decade and were understandably upset by the thought that he was being groomed for the leadership of the party by his seventy-seven-year-old father. By last November the campaign against Andreas Papan- dreou had reached such proportions that he re- signed. By the time that the Aspida affair came up, however, he had returned to the government.
It was General Grivas who first revealed to the king and the Minister of Defence, Mr. Garoufalias, the existence of Aspida, though it is impossible at the moment to be sure of its im- portance, let alone Andreas Papandreou's com- plicity. The newspaper Eleftheria, by inclination friendly to the Centre Union, took up the case and turned it into an attack on Andreas Papandreou. Eleftheria is in this case undoubtedly the mouthpiece of a group of Centre deputies, notably Mr. Mitsotakis, the ex-Minister of. Finance, who have it in for the Papandreous. George Papandreou's only mistake seems to have been his reluctance to take swift action over Aspida. He probably regarded it as unimportant, and for what it is worth, the course of the judicial investigation has confirmed his views.
Papandreou's counter-proposal for a purge of extremist right-wing elements in the army may have been ill-timed, but was justifiable. The possibility of a right-wing military coup in Greece cannot be discounted, particularly when a liberal government has succeeded in allowing the extreme left some freedom of movement. Papandreou has always claimed that liberal government, not repression, will nullify the Com- munist threat; the right-wing ERE, led by Mr. Kanellopoulos, has accused him of allowing Com- munist infiltration of the armed forces. Aspfda was therefore for ERE a good stick with which to beat the government. By his reluctance to take Aspida seriously, and by insisting on taking over the Ministry of Defence himself after Mr. Garoufalias's expulsion from the parliamentary party, Papandreou laid himself open to the charge of covering up for bis son. His defence against this charge—'If I really wanted to cover some- thing up, I ought to have remained Prime Minister and appointed a friend as Minister of Defence to
do the covering up'—may sound odd, but simply shows an agreeable sense of realism about Greek politics, to which the much abused term 'Byzantine' really does apply.
The king's published correspondence with Papandreou shows that the quarrel has been brewing up for some time. And if, as this corre- spondence implies, Papandreou has been looking for an excuse to raise the question of the mon- archy, then the king has acted extremely unwisely not only in publishing the correspondence, but also in giving Papandreou his excuse by forcing his resignation. Papandreou has chosen to turn the issue into a constitutional one by claiming that the king had no right to keep him out of the Ministry of Defence. Thus if there is a general election, the constitutional question is bound to be a major issue.
Greece is a 'Royal Democracy.' The king's prerogatives, as laid down in articles 29 to 44 of the Constitution, look innocuous enough until it is realised that on occasions like this he actually exercises them. For instance, the king appoints and dismisses ministers. In• the case of the death or resignation of the Prime Minister, the king is bound by parliamentary practice to send for the leader of the majority party. But his powers of discretion are wide. When Field-Marshal Papagos died, King Paul chose the dark horse Karamanlis over the head of Stephanopoulos; and in the Present case, Mr. Athanasiades-Novas, when in- vited to form a government, could in no sense be called the leader of the Centre Union. Once again Mr. Stephanopoulos had a prior claim. In the present crisis criticism is aimed more at Mr. Hoidas, director of the king's Political Office, than at the king himself. The language of the Centre press is still couched in terms of 'demo- cratising the monarchy' and 'getting rid of the traitors who misled the king' rather than abolish- ing the monarchy altogether. But no one doubts that it is the monarchy which is in danger.
Elections. however, suit nobody except, perhaps, Papandreou if he finds no other way back to power. Monday's enormous demonstra- tion in Athens shows that he is well placed to put pressure on the king by appealing to the people and Article 114. What Papandreou calls the 'pseudo-government' of Mr. Athanasiades- Novas must win a vote of confidence by the first week of August. Should it fall, which seems prob- able, the only chance of averting elections would be the recall of Papandreou, or the discovery of a Centre politician of sufficient prestige to attract those who are now sitting on the fence. Such a politician is Mr. Stephanopoulos, deputy Prime Minister in the fallen government, who might even win Papandreou's approval. But Papandreou is understandably bitter, and should he decide to appeal to the people, a move which would delight the extreme left-wing EDA, the prospects for the monarchy arc bleak, and for the country perhaps even bloody.
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