By Antonis Anzoletou

The “hourglass” for holding the election is emptying, and the party staffs have turned on the engines with the view of dissolving the Parliament and announcing the election on Saturday. The Prime Minister will visit the President of the Republic to formally submit the request for the dissolution of Parliament. This will be followed by the hanging of the Presidential Decree in the peristyle of the Parliament. Today, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will hold the first post-Easter meeting at Megaros Maximos, making a short-term plan. The new round of tours will start immediately, and on Wednesday he will be in Corfu. After the announcement of the elections, he will visit Chania. The choice of his place of origin as the starting point of his visits with the official start of the pre-election period is a symbolic move showing the great importance he gives to Crete. In Piraeus, they estimate that the gap with SYRIZA has been significantly closed, claiming to “paint” the prefectures of the island blue. Next week, the New Democracy Political Committee is scheduled to meet to determine all the details of the party’s planning until the elections. It is clear that the prime minister will focus a lot on comparing the four years of New Democracy and SYRIZA, presenting the achievements of his own government.

In the camp of the blue faction, they take the first place on May 21 for granted. There are two requests. The percentage is approaching as much as 38% which the self-reliance of the second ballot box requires and the difference with SYRIZA gives an air of victory for the strengthened analogue. The penetration of the party among the younger generations, as well as among the undecided citizens, is the “riddle” that Kyriakos Mitsotakis is asked to solve in the coming days. They estimate that blue-collar voters make up the majority of the “gray zone” and therefore New Democracy has a very good “reservoir” to draw additional crosses.

For SYRIZA, the communication of the program, which will be presented in a few days, is the priority. Alexis Tsipras will concentrate in daily life and in the economy with the first stop after Easter this afternoon Lavrio. The former prime minister knows the neighborhood well and, as is his custom lately, he will chat with citizens in a cafe in the area. On Wednesday he will be in Kos, where according to information, he will announce his candidacy in the Dodecanese as a small tribute to Nektarios Santorinios who recently passed away. About 30 names remain to be announced to close the SYRIZA ballots across the territory. From Koumoundourou they are talking about surprise persons who will make up the official opposition lists. Wages, the improvement of the purchasing power of households, private debt, the protection of the first home, security, transparency and justice are at the forefront of the issues that Alexis Tsipras will present. Koumoundourou is also concerned with the case of the resignation of Alexis Georgoulis from the party’s European group and the process that will soon be launched to remove his immunity from the European Parliament. It is recalled that a complaint has been filed against him for harassment and more details will be announced in the next few hours. SYRIZA moved quickly by announcing his removal from the party until the ongoing investigations are completed.

The machines have also started in Harilaou Trikoupi. Nikos Androulakis has returned from Crete. On Wednesday and Friday he is expected to visit neighborhoods of Athens. On Thursday he will be in Mytilini and at the weekend in Thessaly. Dimitris Koutsoubas will visit Lavrio on Thursday.