Golden Nightmare
After being the centre of attention for several months late last year, Greece has been mostly out of the international news. Indeed, some commentators have suggested that the economy might be showing signs of turning the corner; not exactly light at the end of the tunnel, but at least the tunnel has now come into view.
Until last week. A row raging between the three governing coalition parties about new anti-racism legislation has put Greece back in the international spotlight. Newspapers around the world (and of course in Greece itself) focus on the two smaller political parties in the coalition, Pasok and Democratic Left, which have tabled draft legislation designed to make life much tougher for members of the Neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. The majority coalition member, New Democracy rejected these drafts, influenced by the voices of those who believe that such a move might accelerate the migration of voters to the extreme right.
There are some less well publicized issues which might throw light on the conflict between the parties, and point up some general negotiating lessons.
Firstly. A high ranking member of the Democratic Left party is currently the Minister of Justice. He felt Greece ought to have new anti-racist legislation (note: Greece already has anti-racist laws, but they are outdated, for example because they don’t cover racist activity on the web, social media etc.). Instead of consulting with the government coalition parties at a lower level, he decided to bring the bill directly to a meeting between the three party leaders. The conservative New Democracy party objected to parts of the content of the bill. The leader of the Democratic Left would not back down on the points causing contention.
First Conclusion: Never start a negotiation with the most senior people because there is no high