By Dora Antoniou

A year ago, the government was starting 2024 with reformist drive. Six months earlier, she had confirmed her dominance of the political scene with an emphatic victory in the June 2023 election. Not only was ND’s 40.56%. which justified the feeling of superiority, but also the big difference from the second SYRIZA, which was limited to 17.83% and entered a state of internal party turmoil, essentially leaving the government without substantial opposition pressure from the official opposition.

The reform momentum at the beginning of the year was transformed into the promotion of two major changes: the legalization of same-sex marriage, despite the backlash, and the reform of higher education, which paved the way for the operation of non-state universities in our country.

Already, however, from the beginning of the year we are saying goodbye to, polls reflected the pressure of everyday life in the responses of the citizens, peaking with persistent punctuality, housing, health services, etc.. A few months later, in the June European elections, the N.D. recorded a significant loss of strength, with its percentage being limited to 28.31%. SYRIZA’s further slide to 14.92% helped to keep opposition pressure weak. Not a few attributed the ruling party’s drop in percentage to the dissatisfaction of the conservative audience with the choice to legalize the marriage of same-sex couples. However, the opinion polls are more inclined to the assessment that it was precisely the persistent pressure on the front of everyday life that caused a growing discontent, which may have manifested itself under the pretext of various occasions, but in fact it originates from there.

And they can European elections did not change the data in terms of opposition pressure, they did, however, bring intra-party pressure. The loss of power in the European elections brought criticism for government choices by former prime ministers Costas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras, with a focus mainly on national issues, but also suggestions by the latter for the need to conservatively fold the party in order to be closer to its traditional audience. At the same time, the voices of ND MPs were amplified, expressing dissatisfaction with the treatment they received from government officials and their consequent inability to transfer to the government the recruitments they had from their constituents. This pressure manifested itself through parliamentary initiatives by ND deputies, who brought to the Parliament questions about everyday issues, such as bad loans and the exemption of low pensioners from pharmaceutical expenses. It also caused corrective interventions, centered on meetings between MPs and ministers, in order to have better communication and to listen to their concerns.

The crisis in the relations of the former prime minister, Antonis Samaraswith the government leadership peaked when in an interview he personally criticized Kyriakos Mitsotakis for key decisions of the government, statements that led to his deletion. However, despite estimates to the contrary, the deletion of Samaras did not trigger a wider crisis within the governing faction, nor did it cause greater shocks in the government and the party.

At the end of the year, the government’s main goal is to regain lost ground and repatriate voters it lost in the European elections. The political landscape shows the differentiation of the opponent in the position of official opposition, which is now PASOK, which manages to move in percentages close to 20%, while with legislative initiatives it tries to put pressure on the government.

A year and a half after the previous elections, time is counting down to the next election, in 2027 as Mr. Mitsotakiswho also declared that he will run for a third term. The battle of everyday life, on which the government appears determined to focus its efforts, is the front where everything will be decided.