Fed up and fired up, young voters in Greece are keen to get to the polls on October 4 in an effort to have their voice heard.
Unlike the Euroelections of May where Greeks stayed away from the polls in record numbers, the snap elections called by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis last week have got everybody talking.
“This is nothing like the Euroelections which really don’t matter. This is different, these elections are about issues that are very important to us,” said 24-year-old Akis Mavropoulos.
The engineering student said education and employment would be the key issues for people in his age group.
“It’s clear that there needs to be a major overhaul of the entire system, one that will put an end to graduates being forced to work as waiters for 600 euro a month and start to create opportunities for Greeks to study and work in Greece and not be forced to leave for other European countries,” Mr Mavropoulos added.
Employment, or the lack of it, is also the core issue concerning Michalis Katsikis, a 29-year-old philosophy graduate currently working as a bus driver.
“It is unacceptable that so many talented young Greeks are unemployed or forced to work as bus drivers and waiters because there are no opportunities in their field, what is the use of spending all those years studying.”
Mr Katsikis believes the New Democracy government, led by Mr Karamanalis, has “in just five years managed to run Greece into the ground.”
He says the current government is “incapable of dealing with the problems Greeks face and refuses to accept responsibility for the mess they have created.”
“Instead of admitting their failures they are trying to convince us that PASOK is to blame for everything, but PASOK hasn’t been in power for five years.”
PASOK supporter Anna Pavlis, a 22-year-old medicine student, is also tired of all the excuses from the Prime Minister and believes its time for a change.
“It’s no secret that I am a big fan of PASOK leader George Papandreou and a member of the PASOK party, but I am also an optimist who always believes in a brighter tomorrow. I like to thing that my generation will see this election as an opportunity to bring upon change to our country and I believe that PASOK is the party to lead us forward,” Ms Pavlis said.
Other young Greeks are also hopeful of a brighter tomorrow, including 21-year-old Ioanna Athanasiadi, an active member of the Greek Communist Party KKE.
“I feel it is time for young Greeks to start taking over the reigns and live with the hope that my generation will be the one that leads this incredible country into a brighter future, but in order to do so its important we work hard and remain focused on the core issues of education, employment, workers rights, the environment, immigration and more rights for refugees and newly arrived migrants,” Ms Athansiadi explained to me as she handed out leaflets outlining KKE’s position on these issues.
Unlike most members of other parties who are pleased with the call for elections, the young supporters of the New Democracy party are still coming to terms with that they have labeled as a tragic mistake by their leader and Prime Minister Mr Karamanlis.
“His decision to lead us to the polls can only be described as political suicide,” believes Eleni Kotsolia, a 29-year-old chemist.
“In the heart of this global crisis, and following the tragic events of last December and the recent fires, all polls are indicating our party is down at least seven points, why a leader would decide to call for an election during all this is beyond me,” Ms Kotsolia said.
It seems to be a question many young people are asking, regardless of which side of the fence they sit on. One thing that is certain though is that they will take this opportunity to be heard by casting their votes on October 4.