By Penelope Galliou

The “bridges” that Kyriakos Mitsotakis threw to his predecessors, Antonis Samaras and Costas Karamanlis, on the occasion of the event for the 50th anniversary of the center-right faction, and the invitation he addressed to them by contacting them by phone, are waiting until Friday to decide whether for the former prime ministers to “read” them.

A moment in which the blue faction will return to the historic and emblematic building of Rigillis Street for its fiftieth birthday, until the time of writing these lines, but also probably until the last moment, the two former prime ministers will not declare their intentions their.

The move by Kyriakos Mitsotakis is characterized, by government sources, as a move of unity on his part and a “hand of friendship” that he extended, inviting Mr. Samaras and Mr. Karamanlis to join forces and attend the anniversary event, putting an end to the cold climate that prevails between the two sides, especially after the criticism they made last June, after the European elections, from the stage at the War Museum. Since then, it is commonly accepted that their relations are going through perhaps their coldest phase and the new approach of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, could smooth out the peaks. The question for both the Maximos Palace and Piraeus is whether a similar attitude is recorded on the part of the two former prime ministers.

“Everyone takes their responsibility, we don’t take leave of absence who came and didn’t come, this is an event of remembrance, joy and celebration” commented the Minister of State, Makis Voridis, speaking to SKAI, at the same time characterizing the Mitsotakis phone call as an act of “disrespect and special treatment which the former Prime Ministers are entitled to in their capacity”.

On the other hand, colleagues of both Antonis Samaras and Kostas Karamanlis avoided answering positively or negatively about the presence or not of the two former prime ministers, repeating to persistent questions that “he has not decided yet”. A fact that leaves all possibilities open until the last moment. However, blue MPs estimate that especially Kostas Karamanlis, whose government and the celebrations of its election, in 2004, have been identified with the historic building of Rigillis and have been imprinted in the memories of the supporters of the center-right faction, will not choose to be absent. In any case, it is taken for granted that even if both former prime ministers finally attend, this will not mean the “breaking of the ice” or the removal of the disagreements that characterize the three ND leaders.

The Prime Minister, however, sent an invitation to the ND executives and the Council of Ministers, closing his presentation and in view of the anniversary event he said: “Wearing our party hat, on Friday we will all go Rigillis”, as our slogan says We will go to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the New Republic, making the power of yesterday the result of today, hope for tomorrow, in a nice anniversary event.”

“Let’s go Rigillis” is also the call of the spot released for the anniversary event, where the prime minister will deliver a speech at 8:00 p.m., outside the party’s historic offices. A spot he uploaded on social media and includes the photos of ND founder Konstantinos Karamanlis and all former ND prime ministers and presidents. “On Friday, October 4th, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of our faction. At 20:00 we will all be in Rigillis!” states the ND message.