By Penelope Galliou

In December 2019, Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakisonly a few months old as Prime Minister at the time, had declared that at Christmas he would steal some time to go to the mountain, and saying that “there I make the important decisions” he would decide on the person he would propose for the Presidency of the Republic. Five years later, he is called upon to take the same decision again, but weighing the weight of the six-year government term with the wear and tear it can cause, as well as the balance within the ND and the wider acceptance of this political decision. of his choice, which he seems to be calculating, before making his decision.

In spite of the fact of the constitutional review that brought out the factors of the presidential puzzle, the dissolution of Parliamentas now the governmental majority is sufficient to vote for the new person of the Presidency, and an increased majority is not necessarily required, nevertheless, apart from the numerical one, the most difficult part is the political balances that it will reflect and how widely accepted the new one will be face.

The stated decision of some blue MPs not to seek her re-election Katerina Sakkelaropoulou in the highest state office – especially after the issue of same-sex marriage – automatically made the issue an internal party puzzle. Driven by this, there are also those associates of the prime minister who are said to have suggested to him, speeding up the procedures, so that time does not work “corrosively” on the ruling faction and prolongs a debate that can cause intra-party frictions as well as a climate of “disrespect” ” both to the institution and to the person of Mrs. Sakellaropoulou.

“It is too early, there is no decision from the Prime Minister and there is no value at this time to enter into any such scenario process. It is neither productive, nor does it concern the vast majority of citizens, it is a very serious issue, obviously, that will be discussed at the right time, which is not now”, was the response of the government representative Pavlos Marinakis, regarding the scenarios that are circulated regarding the election President of the Republic.

After all, this is the repeated position of Kyriakos Mitsotakis as many times as he was called to answer on the subject, characterizing the debate that opened “premature and insulting to the institution and Ms. Sakellaropoulou”.

Close associates of the prime minister, however, state that the relevant conversation has not been opened even among a close core of Megaros Maximos, stating that they too do not know the thoughts and intentions of the prime minister and repeat the comments about premature discussion. “I am sure that because the Prime Minister thinks according to the constitutional order, when that time comes, his choice will be one that will have wider acceptance,” State Minister Makis Voridis told SKAI.

A statement which, according to many, could exclude persons from within the ND, the “party choices”, as ND sources commented, which would indeed respect the internal party balances but would not cover the prerequisite of the “broader policy” acceptance” which seems to be a strong factor in the decision of Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

The name of the Speaker of the Parliament seems to belong to the first “category”. Costa Tasoulawhich is widely regarded and will obviously rally ND MPs, but there are concerns that it may reflect a purely blue-collar choice that will not attract the wider consensus sought. On the contrary, a more widely accepted person, such as that of Yanis Stournara, who was also Minister of Finance during the Antonis Samaras-Evangelos Venizelos government and “figures” in the presidential nomenclature, there is concern that he might raise intra-party objections in the ND and especially on the Karamanli side. And if in the “easy” presidential scenarios for the ND, the two former prime ministers and presidents of the ND, Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras, would be named, for now the relations of the “leadership trinity of the ND” do not help in this direction, while Mr. Karamanlis and Mr. Samaras do not seem positive about such a possibility.

In any case, the Parliament should meet for the election of the President of the Republic no later than February 13, but it is a given that such a crucial decision cannot be taken at the last minute and while there seem to be already intra-governmental proposals to speed up the procedures at the beginning of the year at the latest.

It should be noted here that up to five votes are foreseen for the election of the President of the Republic, and in the last one a relative majority is sufficient. At Megaros Maximos, however, they take it for granted that there will be no ND MPs who will vote against their party’s proposal, which they want to bring together broader political features.