Halkidiki Treat

  Our Halkidiki treat with my sister and her husband came just at the right time, giving Z’n’me a welcome respite from the demanding home and garden projects we were involved in. The weather, too, lightened up after a week of regular rain squalls and so we readily enjoyed seeing the Gerakini area in all its glorious verdure. There was also a gloriously gnarled olive tree.

                

   

                               

  There is a real concern that some areas in Greece are being over-fished in terms of tourism. Certainly, it is said that the infrastructures of incredibly popular islands such a Mykonos and Santorini cannot continue to cope with the magnitude of the high season ingress. Thought: will they implode or explode?!In Gerakini there were some signs of this phenomenon. You can see the hotel blocks and lines of recliners and umbrellas stretching a fair distance, though nothing like the claustrophobic extent in some of the Spanish resorts.

             

                   

This was early season so there were few locals and most cars parked around were from Romania or Serbia. And it’s not just Greek resorts that can be inundated now – a couple staying near us had been here for a week in May and now 2 weeks in June – to escape the tourist hordes in their home area of Cornwall.

 Our hotel was the 4* Philoxenia Hotel in the Psakoudia area – a large complex with two pools and lots of recreational facilities and events organized.

                                                

 We particularly enjoyed an evening of music provided by the Thessaloniki band The Beetroots. Their singer had the amazing ability not only to sing the songs well but also to emulate the voice. We could almost believe Elvis and Tom Jones singing to us!

                                             

 We were on a full catering programme so we dutifully staggered to the dining area three times a day – we had completely forgotten what hunger felt like! And the access to booze was unlimited so …… :o

                                                     

 The chef, Marinos Chontrolidis, was exceptional. He produced vast buffets with a great variety of very tasty foods. One evening he even manned a gyro stand that was very popular. Our particular favourites were his moussakas, giant beans in tomato sauce, pasta flora as well as light, not-over-sweet doughnuts. Waiters Aris, Ioanna and Markos were always ready to oblige, smiling and up for a wee chat.

Early  morning a band of cleaners, pool tenders and kitchen staff swept into the hotel keeping the services smoothly efficient. Post-Pilates work-out, I went for a seaside walk in the morning cool on the beach. Sometimes the still slightly sluggish brain was better able to unravel tricky crossword clues there.  After breakfast the pool was only six steps from our room and couldn’t be ignored.

I’ll share with you some of the soothing scenes I recorded to remind me of our great break.

                                                                                        

 

On the radio today they announced that Halkidiki was very busy this year. All the reasonably priced accommodation was booked and all that remained were rooms for rent at 150 euros per night! We were so lucky to go when we did. We’re back refreshed and ready to pick up on home and garden projects.

My final shot –taken through the mosquito screen! – is an early morning one of tranquil time.

                                                   

Doing Democracy.

 In deference to our second round of elections which will take place on June 25^th, I will explore the concept and working of the democratic system.

 When I first came to Greece I remember being confused on being told, ‘Here we don’t have a royal family – we have democracy’ – as if the two were mutually exclusive. On more than one occasion I have heard the term being expressed to mean “I can do what I like’ – only sometimes is it said in fun!

                                               

 We probably are all aware of the definition of democracy rendered by Abraham Lincoln: ‘Democracy is a government of the people, by the people and for the people.’

 A fellow Facebook-user, Pierakis Kimonos, is credited with this description which I really like: ‘Democracy is the freedom to elect your own dictators’.

                                              

 Churchill, too, had a contribution to make on the subject:

Democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time. 

Ancient Greece clearly must have a say on the matter. Plato states that it was:

 ‘…. a charming form of government, full of variety and disorder, and dispensing a sort of equality to equals and un equals alike.’

Quite simply, in a democracy you have the right to vote – you make your mark on some sort of ballot sheet, under a veil of secrecy, and these votes are collected to be counted. But what exactly happens with these statistics for them to be transmuted into a democratically elected government? Are we fully aware of the ins and outs, the complexities of the electoral systems?

There are three main types of electoral system.

1.       Plurality Electoral Systems

This is also known as ‘First Past the Post’.  There is no majority vote required, it is simply that the candidate who receives most votes is considered the winner and gains a seat.  In Great Britain as well in Canada, the United States and India, the ‘First Past the Post’ system is in operation.

 

2.       Proportional Representation Systems

 These are the most widely used in the world. Here the proportion referenced is the percentage of the total votes (the actual number of valid votes cast) that a party receives and    will be equated into the percentage number of seats awarded it in parliament. So if a party wins 40% of the votes cast, then it is awarded 40% of the seats in parliament.

3.       Majority Electoral Systems

This system requires the winner to win over 50% of the votes cast ie 50% +1 vote to win. If this is not achieved in the first round of balloting, then a second election is held with a reduced number of candidates compared to the first electoral round.

Essentially, this is an oversimplified description. In practice, things are much more complex. In Britain different systems are in operation for elections in the two Houses as well as in local elections. Moreover, the age of suffrage in England and Northern Ireland is 18 years, while in Scotland and Wales people of 16 and over are allowed to vote.

 

  In Greece those who have reached their 17^th birthday are allowed to vote. The 300 parliamentary seats were allocated using a ‘reinforced’ proportional representation system from 2004 to 2016. The Syriza government abolished this, thus denying the 50 bonus seats allocated to the first party. The system they introduced was a ‘party-list proportional representation’ which requires a vote share of at least 45% for a party to be declared the winner. This method almost always requires the formation of a coalition government and if this isn’t possible then a second round of elections must be held. This happened in the recent May elections, thus necessitating a second round to be held on June 25^th.

 Since assuming power, the New Democracy Government repealed the Syriza law and a new system will operate on June 25^th. This once again allows for a bonus seat system but on a sliding scale basis: when the first party has a vote share of 25%, 20 seats will be added - up to a maximum of 50 seats for a vote share of 40% and above.                                                                   

 In ancient times, Greek philosophers long contemplated what the ideal state would be. Socrates proposed a totalitarian regime as the ideal one, where the rulers have all been educated in ruling for decades before taking absolute power.

This may sound extreme but he does have a point. It has been said that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter! It seems that education - for both candidates and voters alike - is a prerequisite for a healthy democracy.

 May we go to the polling station soon as an informed electorate – let’s dignify democracy!