“That’s what politics has. You will hear them in my speech.” Kyriakos Mitsotakis, coming to Parliament on Thursday, was asked to comment on the resignations of Stavros Papastavros and Yiannis Bratakos. Before he took the stage to answer his opponents, he already counted two losses of close associates.
The Prime Minister’s speech had everything. The debate in the Parliament, on the motion of no confidence tabled by the opposition parties, had everything. Apologetics but also high tones, half-truths, outright lies, interests, remarks that justifiably caused reactions, unnecessary applause.
The party staffs have taken stock of the debate. Usually, as happens after such discussions, everyone declares themselves winners on the points. The reality, however, shows that everyone, each for their own reasons, is “stressed”. The June polls hide pitfalls and probably, as everything seems, surprises.
Mitsotakis, stability and “interests”
The initiative of Nikos Androulakis to file a motion of no confidence against the government, on the occasion of the “Vima” publication, surprised the Maximos Palace. This was evident from the government’s initial reaction. There was a campaign in which ministers, parliamentarians and the entire ND party apparatus took part in order to pass the message that the initiative of the president of PaSoK was guided by powerful financial interests who want to overthrow the government. The Prime Minister moved on this wavelength in his speech, knowing that all these reports may help rally the ND party base but say little to society. The project of the government that when in a difficult position cries out for the interests that fight it has been raised many times, with different protagonists. He doesn’t buy many tickets.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis did not attend the debate, in the Plenary Session of the Parliament, on the conclusion of the majority of the commission of inquiry on Tempi. He wanted to leave himself out of the picture of a tragedy that has hurt and still hurts the government. The motion of no confidence put him back in the frame and, at the same time, provided him with the opportunity to answer the accusations of cover-up, of setting up the scene of the tragedy, of editing the audio of Tempe, of contract 717. He tried it by choosing, in low tons, to address the galleries of the Parliament, where there were relatives of the victims, as well as survivors of the tragedy. “I look you in the eye and tell you that no cover-up order was ever given. But I’m telling you the truth and you can’t dispute this truth,” he stressed. It is unknown whether the Prime Minister managed to convince public opinion. And it is uncertain whether he can answer a simple question after the discussion. What hand edited the dialogues, the ones he himself heard and shocked him, as he has stated?
The ND’s big problem on the way to the June polls was and is the demobilization tendencies favored by the character of the contest, the European elections do not produce governments. The threat of demobilization is aided by the fact that there is no rival capable of directly challenging its political dominance. The feeling of omnipotence of the ruling party helps disaffected voters to choose other parties like that of Mr. Kyriakos Velopoulos. The European elections do not produce a government However, if the ND retreats from 41% to a percentage that will move in the realm of 30-33%, it will have a problem. The antidote to this problem seems to have been found. The opponent is the …interests that want to weaken and overthrow the government. And the stake is the stability of the country which only the ND can ensure. With this narrative, the ND will march towards the European elections.
Androulakis and the 2 ramparts of PaSoK
The day after the debate in the Parliament, the Political Council of the PaSoK met in Harilaou Trikoupi. It is unknown the climate that would have existed at the meeting if the initiative for the submission of the motion of no confidence and the debate in the Parliament had not preceded it. The retreat of PaSoK to third place in the opinion polls brought great concern to the leadership and base. Mr. Androulakis’ move gave a breath of fresh air to PaSoK, which appeared to be leading the opposition front against K. Mitsotakis.
Mr. Androulakis, at the meeting, argued that PaSoK forced Mr. Mitsotakis to expel three of his close associates, Mr. Dimitriadis for the wiretapping and now Papastavrou and Bratakos. This fact, according to Mr. Androulakis, answers the question “if there is an opposition”. Harilaou Trikoupi’s campaign for the European elections will be based on this front. The country needs an opposition and PaSoK has shown that it can be the opposition “that brings results when it operates with seriousness and solidity, without communication shows”. This robustness and seriousness will be the field in which the comparison with Stefanos Kasselakis’ SYRIZA will also be sought. “We proved that we know how to do politics and communication wins.”
In PaSoK, they will continue the head-on opposition to the government. Continuity will also be given to the tragedy of Tempe. Mr. Androulakis stated that on Monday morning he will go to Areopagus because “there must be an investigation, full light, and the Greek people must know the truth.” At the same time, he announced that next Sunday he will present at a solemn meeting of the Central Committee of the PASOK. This is how Mr. Androulakis will move, who has to face several difficulties. Despite the fact that the PaSoK rally is moving at high levels, its poll percentages are fixed. At the same time, “New Left” and Andreas Loverdos function as dykes in the influx of votes from SYRIZA and ND. The goal of second place has become difficult.
The Kasselakis promise and Trump
“You will all be dazzled during the European elections and beyond.” Stefanos Kasselakis does not discount his optimism. Not even in his statements, which often send contradictory messages. The president of SYRIZA co-signed the motion of no confidence of PaSoK to declare immediately afterwards that there will be a cockfight in the Parliament. And, wanting to make a comeback, he declared that the government should resign quietly and that elections should be held with the presence of international observers. It was a statement that caused reactions even within SYRIZA itself.
The reality is that after the adventure of the conference the climate in SYRIZA has changed. And the erasing course towards single-digit percentages was reversed and second place was regained. Mr. Kasselakis seems to be on his feet better but his communication performance is a double-edged sword for SYRIZA as, as it is said, “he is capable of the best but also the worst”. He can make a move that will elevate SYRIZA and the next moment another that will bring him down.
In any case, Mr. Kasselakis will go to the European elections trying to convince the electorate that SYRIZA is the political force that can restore the progressive faction to the governance of the country. Another SYRIZA that has the stamp of its leader that still remains blurred. Mr. Kasselakis politicizes with positions and expressions that sometimes refer to the US Democrats and sometimes refer to Trump’s populism and repel.
Mr. Kasselakis, like Mr. Androulakis on the way to the European polls, will indulge in a two-front. They will clash with the ND and each other. They will claim, like the KKE and also its “New Left”, the votes of the citizens who constitute, as Alexis Haritsis characteristically mentioned, a “social opposition”. From their performance it will be seen if this “social opposition” can be expressed through the existing forms in the space of the center-left or if it will give signals for other collaborations.
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