Parties go back on the campaign trail

With the decree issued on Monday by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou dissolving Parliament and officially calling for elections on June 25, the country’s political parties are back on the campaign trail, holding the thread of continuity from the previous election period, but also with the necessary adjustments and new dilemmas, as imposed by the May 21 election result. 

For its part, frontrunner New Democracy is making the case regarding the need for a “safe” one-party government in order to avert third elections and the necessity of stability for the full implementation of its program. Speaking to Mega TV on Monday, ND leader and former prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that “if people believe that this [program] must be implemented and they want to trust me to put it into practice, I ask for a strong mandate for a stable government.”

On the other hand, SYRIZA is seeking a “total reset” after the disastrous result of the first election, while highlighting its commitment to prevent the prospect of an all-powerful conservative government. Indicatively, the leftist party’s leader, Alexis Tsipras told party officials that “we are setting the bar high and mobilizing every human resource in order to achieve our great goal, which is the reversal of the correlations of May 21, in view of the next elections.”

“We must prevent the nightmarish prospect of an all-powerful and uncontrollable right-wing… which will come in the next few years to impose sweeping changes affecting the lives of the great majority of society,” Tsipras said, with critics quick to note that the party’s new narrative has to be clear this time compared to the elections earlier this month when SYRIZA was accused of failing to convey a comprehensive message. What is clear is that the party appears determined to uphold its credentials as a governing force of the Left.

As for PASOK, the socialist party has shut down every bridge of cooperation with ND, while drawing clear dividing lines with SYRIZA. The ultimate goal, as repeatedly stated by the party’s leadership team, is a return to the role of main opposition party. Before the elections of May 21, PASOK’s position was that it remained open to the prospect of cooperation with a convergence of platforms and a third person as prime minister. Now it is making it clear that there is no room for discussion of post-election cooperation with ND.