Kythiraika newspaper: «Controversy continues...» -2nd Answer to «Free Kythira»

The newspaper «Kythiraika» reports New Response to the «Free Kythira» Municipal Faction». Read below:

Second Response from the «Kythiraika» Newspaper»

Indeed, they may be right that citizens would be wasting their time getting caught up in pre-election excuses and empty rhetoric, but, since they’ve gotten their hands dirty and thrown down the gauntlet, we’ll keep those involved in this kind of debate occupied a little longer.

1. In no election campaign to date have we engaged in criticizing the candidates’ positions, nor have we taken a position on them, except for one long-standing stance of ours, which has never found a receptive audience. And that is our proposal for everyone to run on a joint ticket.
2. Criticism is one thing, and satire is another; satire, of course, implies indirect criticism, but it does not involve the presentation of positions, etc. Our decision not to engage in pre-election debates—aside from being a long-standing position of ours—now also has a practical rationale. With the proliferation of such debates on social media, we would immediately alienate our large readership of the print edition, who are unable to follow online media. At the same time, a monthly publication lacks the capacity for dialogue, since such dialogue typically unfolds—as it has in recent days leading up to the election—and would therefore be ineffective.
3. As for the debate process, Mr. Bahtis addressed this issue and proposed that, if it were to proceed, it be held jointly, as has been the case in recent elections. I did not participate in any meetings or consultations, nor did I engage with the topics, since from the outset, pretextual conditions had been set—such as, for example, that the topic «»Domestic’—and everything related to this burning issue—in light of two pending decisions by the country’s Supreme Courts. The condition recently imposed to exclude me from the process was clearly a pretext, since NEVER and TO NO ONE I haven't said who I would vote for. The rest are just excuses to avoid a debate, which we’ll reveal after the election so that no one can say we influenced even ONE undecided voter. After all, the same goes for those in Athens. ALL The participating journalists write articles publicly and under their own names in support of or against candidates. I wonder if they’d even be allowed to do that here, and if such a thing were even possible?;

And we conclude with the despicable, «Trotskyist-style» irony of the author of the piece on the newspaper’s 36 years, the irony regarding «reputable» journalism and all the rest that was «spewed forth» the author’s lamentable pen—from whom we certainly won’t be asking for any credentials regarding those years and everything this … «rag» has offered on a multitude of topics, thanks to a host of exceptional contributors. We are completely indifferent to comments of this sort, and let those who voluntarily or involuntarily endorse similar texts rejoice with their author. We simply wish them a long political life until the next elections and hope they will mature, so that they do not become a one-year crop in the Kythirian political garden—and those who stubbornly cultivate and fertilize it!

Ε. Calligeros

P.S. Attached are the two pages from *Trivolos* for those who haven’t read them to judge for themselves.