By Dora Antoniou

The prime minister’s decision time Kyriakou Mitsotakis for the Presidency of the Republic, as the relevant announcement is expected within the current week – at a later time, however, after the meeting he will have on Wednesday at the Presidential Palace with the President of the Republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou. The most likely scenario is that if not on the same day, then the next day, the announcement will be made with a taped message.

In the final stretch, and without the surprise scenario being ruled out, two names dominate the discussions: his Konstantinou Tasoula and his Evangelos Venizelosnames that were among the first to fall on the table. While even close associates of the prime minister report that he has not revealed his thoughts, at the same time they are developing arguments in favor of one point of view or the other.

In relation to him Evangelo Venizelosthe main element that could count in favor of his own candidacy is that he would secure the support of PASOK and respond to the informal tradition of choosing a candidate from the opposing ideological field. It is also estimated that it would be a choice that would not cause problems within the New Democracy and would not create questions about the cohesion of the Parliamentary Group, given that he had collaborated with Antonis Samaras in the formation of the government in 2012. There are not a few of them, however, who consider that the very strong personality of Mr. Venizelos can act as a disadvantage, in the sense that it might not be desirable to form such a powerful pole in the Presidential Palace.

There are also not a few who thought that with the eulogy he delivered at the funeral of Kostas Simitis, the prime minister pointed in the direction of a choice that would signal a climate of consensus, while he also made a relevant reference in his speech at the cabinet meeting. There is a counterargument to this from those who argue that Mr. Mitsotakis addressed the Simitis funeral to the audience of the progressive Center with such a speech, precisely because he wishes with his choice for the Presidency to address a more conservative, factional audience.

In this case the Tassoula choice appears to be gaining ground. The counterargument from the side of New Democracy to the expected criticism of a narrowly partisan candidacy is that as Speaker of the House he had a more supra-partisan role in recent years. Also, the supporters of such a choice point out that Mr. Tasoulas was elected Speaker of the Parliament with wide support, in fact in 2019 he collected 283 votes – the most that have ever been collected in a similar procedure, while in 2023 he also received 249 votes from ND. , SYRIZA, PASOK and Greek Solution. In other words, the same sources report, it is an option that has been widely supported in the past. Of course, the counterargument to this is that it was a different position and now the criteria are different.

The fact that the debate has focused on these two names shows that these nominations are considered the strongest. However, the element of surprise cannot be ruled out as the final choice remains the prerogative of Mr. Mitsotakis.