By Antonis Anzoletou

Will bipartisanship be “saved” in the upcoming elections? Apart from the winner, the other big bet that directly concerns New Democracy, SYRIZA, but also PASOK is where the “curve” of bipartisanship will move. Signs of substantial recovery appeared in the previous elections. In 2019 the blue faction (39.85%) regained power with a majority of 158 seats and the SYRIZA (31.53%) found himself again in the position of official opposition. Both cumulatively passed the 70% barrier. Many analysts and political scientists argue that if the percentage of the first two moves to this level, the “political order”, as established after the post-colonialism, will have been restored. PASOK, which after the election of Nikos Androulakis to the presidency of the movement had gained momentum, seems that it cannot finally drive a “wedge” between the two “big men”.

The debate on the restoration of bipartisanship began after the result of May 6, 2012, which was a turning point in the modern political and electoral history of the country. Memoranda and economic withering had distanced the world from traditional forces. Seven parties had entered the Parliament and three more (Ecological Greens, LAOS, Democratic Alliance) had moved close to the 3% zone. From PASOK (13.18%) more than two million voters also left the ND. (18.85%) one million. Together with SYRIZA (16.78%), the three of them only reached 49%.

At the moment, the polling influence of the ruling party and the official opposition moves close to 60%. The balance will change, as the rally just before the polls is expected to lead to an increase in their influence. We are already entering the last week and the measurements that will be published after the debate will have a special weight. After the post-colonial transition, bipartisanship was “glorified” and in six electoral contests it exceeded 85%. Those were the times when the two poles, New Democracy and PASOK alternated in power with Andreas Papandreou, Konstantinos Mitsotakis and later Costas Simitis and Costas Karamanlis carrying out tough encounters.

The data of the ballot box are revealing about the upward course of the “two strong”. Its consolidation PASOK in power in the eight years 1981-1989 took him to over 80%, with the New Democracy trailing but chasing power in the 1985 elections. By simple analogy to the triple elections in the late 1980s – and with the demand for “cleansing” – New Democracy had recorded a percentage that reached 46.89% in April 1990. And despite all that, the electoral system gave Konstantinos Mitsotakis only 150 seats at the time. A few months before, in the second election of that period, in November 1989, N.D. (46.19%) and PASOK (40.67%) gathered together 86.86%. The two parties scored above 85% during the second term of government of Andreas Papandreou in 1985, but also in 2000 when Kostas Simitis clashed vote for vote with Kostas Karamanlis. The polarization between the two led bipartisanship to extremely high rates in 1993 (86.18%), when the Andreas Papandreou it was found again in Maximos, as well as in 2004 with the victory of Kostas Karamanlis, reaching 85.91%. In total, the long days of bipartisanship in 11 electoral contests between N.D. and PASOK – from 1981 to 2009 – only three times did the percentage of the two fall below 80%. In 1996 (79.61%), 2007 (79.94%) and 2009 (77.43%).