By Penelope Galliou

Before the ink dried on the election result of May 21, a week later, the parties – after the dissolution of the Parliament yesterday – already took battle positions for the new pre-election race that ends on June 25. The peculiarities emanating from the recent ballot, the pitfalls it may hide and the new strategy that will follow have already been “weighed” for days at the ND headquarters in Piraeus, in order to draw up the strategy that will be followed during the new pre-election period.

A strategy based mainly on four pillars “stability – self-reliance – positive agenda – deconstruction of opposition” and does not deviate much from the successful strategy of the previous period.

The first pillar is still the narrative of stability in the country, contrasting the risks of instability and lack of governance. Given the political correlations formed in the previous ballot and in light of the impossibility of convergence with PASOK, which could be a potential partner, in Piraeus they show their independence as a “one way” SW.

“The math of elections changes from ballot box to ballot box. We should all consider that possibly on June 25 the bar of self-reliance will rise. The more parties enter the Parliament, the more difficult self-reliance becomes. And what the country does not need today is an unstable government with a marginal majority. The country needs a stable government with a strong majority, in order to implement the big changes, the big reforms,” ​​stressed Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis from Peristeri clearly describing the objective of the blue faction.

To the two previous axes, Piraeus adds the importance of the positive agenda for the country, the positive programmatic reason for the future of the place, with an emphasis on the everyday life of the citizens and the economy. A tactic that also paid off in the previous pre-election period and the leadership group insists on putting it forward in the “line” it gives to the MPs and party officials who throw themselves back into the fray, alongside accounts of the actions of the ND government which despite the adversities she faced made her promises come true. “The question – even more important and this ultimately concerns you all much more – is which party will be able to implement these great changes that we have committed to. I wish and hope in this pre-election period that the our opponents that politics is not done with slogans, with slogans, with toxicity, with insults, with tweets. Come, we say to them, let’s fight for our political program. Let’s compare, after all, who can keep the country on a dynamic trajectory of development” Mr. Mitsotakis emphasized, highlighting exactly the consistency of the ND’s words and actions but also provoking a comparison with his political opponents.

Perhaps the new thing in this pre-election period is the repositioning of the political opponents of the ND, after the results of the May elections, with SYRIZA and PASOK to be almost equally targeted by the ND. It is no coincidence that Kyriakos Mitsotakis made sure during his televised interview with Mega to put Nikos Androulakis in the same frame of opposition tactics as Alexis Tsipras, accusing the president of PASOK of “copying” the leader of SYRIZA. “What PASOK will do is its own matter. I see in PASOK a reason that is very similar to him SYRIZA. Many times Nikos Androulakis – if I didn’t listen to him and only read what he said – I would think he was copying Alexis Tsipras,” said Mr. Mitsotakis, adding that “PASOK is trying to mobilize feelings that come from decades ago, with a completely shallow politician reason. If anything was defeated at the polls it was toxicity and vulgarity. On the other hand, I believe that shallowness and emptiness were also defeated. There is nothing substantial behind PASOK’s speech, which is why they find it difficult to provide any evidence for the costing of its program,” he said, pointing to the blurred message – as they say in Piraeus – that SYRIZA and PASOK send out, while at the same time reminding with every opportunity that in the upcoming elections “we are not voting for an official opposition, but for a government”.

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