The distance between Nicosia and Athens is 915 km. But the divergence of political life in Greece and Cyprus resembles the difference in atmospheric pressure on the surface of the Earth and in the stratosphere. As the atmosphere thins, the pressure decreases - at an altitude of 50 kilometres it is just 1 millionth of the pressure on Earth. The Atmospheric Atmosphere is certainly more compact than the Cypriot.
The Minister of Climate Change and Civil Protection joined unprepared for a much harsher political life than he was used to. "Elpis", the euphemistically named snowstorm, landed him unevenly between the staffroom discord, Patoulis and Attiki Odos.
Stylianides, however, had deeper motives when he accepted Kyriakos Mitsotakis' offer to take over the ministry. He was aware of the shortcomings of the state mechanism, but he felt, according to his close interlocutors, that he could use his knowledge and experience as commissioner in charge of Civil Protection to upgrade Greece's civil protection mechanism. He has a friendly relationship with the prime minister, and visitors to Megaro Maximou have often seen him in its corridors from the moment Mr Mitsotakis first moved in.
Nothing worked as planned
Elpis proved that Civil Protection is one thing from the perspective of Brussels and another under the compulsions of Athens. In his previous position his orders were carried out, they were more managerial and less executive. In his current position, self-evidently there are none, and it seemed somewhat naive to look for them in the promises that were not kept.
He must have realized it himself when, despite the two meetings held on Friday and Sunday, on Monday nothing worked as planned. Yes, the snowfall was sudden and of historic proportions, Attiki Odos did not do as promised, the Region of Attica did nothing. However, none of this changes the impression that the government lost control. That there was no one who would have taken the risk to make the difficult decisions in time. And above all to enforce them.
Greek public opinion does not know Mr Stylianides. It first saw him on TV screens during Monday's emergency briefing. A tired and overwhelmed minister, surrounded by "frozen" officials, who immediately offered a human apology for the miserable conditions in which hundreds of people found themselves on the streets of the capital, but no effective solutions.
Those who know him well describe a dynamic character, who does not shy away from making decisions, who listens to his colleagues and tries to reconcile opinions.
Those who know him well describe a dynamic character, who does not shy away from making decisions, who listens to his colleagues and tries to reconcile opinions.
Those who know him well describe a dynamic character, who does not shy away from making decisions, who listens to his colleagues and tries to reconcile opinions. He is a believer in prevention rather than cure.
In Athens, his circle of interlocutors is limited and it is said that since he took up the post he has been trying to make changes to make the crisis management system more functional and effective.
A ministry without infrastructure
The crisis, they say, caught up with him before he completed his planning.
A ministry without infrastructure
The crisis, they say, caught up with him before he completed his planning. He has, after all, been in the job for only four months, in a key ministry staffed with just 38 employees. And with a coordination centre built to the standards of the Fire Service, subordinate to the needs of the country.
Stylianides has in mind a coordination centre like the ones we see in American movies. With an oval conference table, around which politicians and business leaders will sit, together with the relevant scientists, while giant screens will show images of the problems and maps with forecasts and action models. An American model of crisis management, that is.
Instead, on Monday, just as the snowstorm was starting, he found himself in a small room with old equipment, alone with Major General Spyridon Varsami, a very experienced fire brigade officer, and a representative of the BPA. Shortly afterwards, the Deputy Minister for Civil Protection, Lefteris Economou, also arrived there.
Attiki Odos promises and denial
Before the planning of the previous days collapsed, Stylianides' confidence in the sincerity and competence of his interlocutors collapsed. In two successive meetings, on Thursday and Friday, the Attiki Odos spokesman assured his interlocutors that the company had 36 snowplows available to keep the road open.
In practice, no more than five or six showed up. Of the rest, others had no fuel to get going and were rushed by the Civil Defence to supply drivers with cans of diesel. Some were unmaintained to the point of disrepair. In some, the foreign drivers, out of inexperience, broke the knives that were cutting the snow, putting them out of action.
But even where they were operating, the drivers did not know that they had to clear a lane of the road by throwing snow to the side. Everyone did what they wanted, and as a result, Attiki Odos quickly became inaccessible. The snowploughs, which appeared from the afternoon onwards, were on loan from other operators. Officials say that no one could have imagined such a major breakdown of the company, because until recently its performance was top-notch.
Patoulis' mistakes
In addition to Attiki Odos' failures, other conclusions were drawn from the two traumatic 24-hour days of Monday and Tuesday. Most importantly, that Attica is not prepared to deal with crises of this magnitude. Attica's regional governor George Patoulis, in the same two meetings, read from lists of how much machinery the region has at its disposal.
The same was done by mayors of central municipalities. In the hour of need it appeared that the papers did not tell the truth, the machines that showed up were not enough. The result was that Katehaki, Mesogeion and Kifissias were immediately closed. Does anyone have the authority to check whether the assurances of all these agents correspond to reality? The Ministers of Civil Protection, Interior, Infrastructure and Transport, certainly. The government insists that the models it was working with indicated that the phenomena would start from midday onwards and that they would not be so intense. They therefore decided to close schools, but not to declare a public holiday on Monday. When they finally did, at 12 noon, putting public and private sector employees on the street at the same time, they added another mistake to the already many that preceded it.
And while they were discussing what to do about the heavy vehicles on the National and Attiki Odos, they did not make a decision to close the roads in order not to disrupt traffic, choosing to act according to developments.
The director of EMF, Theodoros Kolydas, defended the accuracy of his service's forecasts. But, as a senior government official was overheard saying angrily in a closed meeting, "only Suzi had a correct forecast, but we are bound by law to consult EMY!"
All for instructions to the prime minister
In hindsight, for the plan to have a chance of success, all links in the chain would have had to be properly prepared and operationally effective - and they were neither.
In previous years, in all crises and on all major issues, it was the Mansion House that intervened. Everyone was mobilized by order of the Prime Minister. Ministers went on the spot, held meetings, appeared on TV for explanations and briefings. Now they were now nowhere to be seen.
Unknown why, the Prime Minister's staff did not get involved to give instructions and solve problems. The lack of direction was also evident in the extraordinary briefing on Monday.
On the other hand, the very model of governance chosen by Mitsotakis showed its limits. It is not possible for the prime minister to solve all the government's problems, big and small. The damage is great and the responsibility is debilitating. But even now, as those who witnessed the events in person recount, Mr Mitsotakis was approached by those who wanted to speed up the procedures.
There was no coordination centre
The communications between Christos Stylianidis, Takis Theodorikakos, Stelios Petsas, Kostas Karamanlis, Giorgos Patoulis and the Chief of the General Staff Konstantinos Floros were not easy. Not because they did not want to, but because different and diffuse responsibilities do not help. That is why the prime minister told the cabinet that "if there is one lesson to be learned from the unsuccessful management of this blizzard, it is that, in crisis conditions, the centres, the heads of all these structures, must be together, decide and act together immediately."
If this coordination center existed, perhaps the Traffic Police would get faster orders from government officials rather than having to coordinate with the management companies of Attica, the New, or any other, Road. Maybe the army would not have been delayed four hours coming from Aspropyrgos in traffic chaos. Perhaps someone would have had the foresight to transport the necessary units and install them in key locations in Athens.
The "personal and sincere apology" that the Prime Minister asked from the citizens is not a small one, because, despite the inconvenience, there was no death. This is not due to luck. It is due to the experience and high professionalism of the operational staff of the police, traffic police, army, medical and nursing staff. When the problems at the top of the pyramid were solved, those at the bottom knew exactly what to do and how to do it quickly and correctly.
Stylianides has not only to deal with the failures of the state apparatus. He is up against the patriotic New Democracy, which has been targeting him for years because of his support for the Annan plan, and is hitting him at every misstep. It will be a blessing if he finally manages to set up the state-of-the-art coordination centre he envisages and has agreed with the Prime Minister, but time is running out as the fire season approaches. Another mistake will hardly be forgiven.
Source: iefimerida.gr
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