Politics & Power Quote by Lucas Papademos

A sentence like this is less a promise than a pressure valve. Papademos is speaking in the language of emergency legitimacy: a "new co-operation government" that will "do the best it can" is deliberately modest, almost bureaucratic, because the real ask is political consent. The repeated insistence on co-operation and unity is doing the heavy lifting. It signals, gently but unmistakably, that the country is past the point where partisan purity can be indulged.

The intent is twofold. First, to lower expectations in a way that feels responsible rather than defeatist. "Do the best it can" anticipates painful compromises; if outcomes disappoint, the government can argue it acted within constraints. Second, to spread ownership of whatever comes next. "With the co-operation of all" quietly recasts dissent as obstruction. Unity becomes not an ideal but a prerequisite, and that framing makes opposition feel like sabotage during a crisis.

The context matters: Papademos, a technocrat associated with central banking and crisis management, was brought in during Greece's debt turmoil to lead a coalition in extraordinary circumstances. In that setting, the rhetoric of national togetherness is also a message outward, to creditors and EU partners, that Greece can present a stable front and implement commitments. The phrase "and the new government stresses this" reads like a stage direction, underlining that unity isn't spontaneous; it's being actively demanded.

It's a careful blend of reassurance and consent-manufacturing: calm the public, discipline the political class, and project governability to an audience beyond the country's borders.