The results of the recent regional elections

As people are assessing the recent local elections, here are a few observations.

A strong New Democracy: More than four years after the last local elections and just a few months after the parliamentary ones in May and June, the governing party remains strong and with significant public appeal. The lay of the political land was set in the first round on October 8, where all the parties were in the running. The result was an alarm bell for ND, but not a defeat.

Counter-support: It is reasonable to assume that voters who do not support ND will not vote for its candidates in the second round where they would often opt for an alternative. This cannot be construed as an overall government defeat.

Center right: Many ND officials who are regarded as “renegades” beat candidates that had been chosen by the leadership. It is known, and was proved, that ND consists of two parts, the liberals and the populist conservatives, and only their coexistence, albeit a difficult one, can ensure victories for the party as a whole.

Center left: In a similar, though obviously not identical, framework, if SYRIZA, which saw its clout drop further, and PASOK want a shot at government, they are doomed to coexist. How this may happen and under what terms and conditions is still being explored. What is certain is that the brass ring will become even more elusive if they continue to fight each other.

Arrogance: Arrogance does not go down well with society. Overplaying the local elections was a mistake (such as talking about winning all of the country’s 13 regions). That resulted in a win with a few losses being interpreted by many as a defeat. Accusations of arrogance also concern PASOK, which celebrated as if it had won every region and municipality in the nation.

Political culture: The runoff race for the Athens mayorship was conducted in a very politically civilized manner and both candidates contributed to this. By agreeing to a debate, ND’s Kostas Bakoyannis provided his rival with significant exposure which helped the latter a lot, but it was the right thing to do. The quality of the debate does both credit and is already a reference for future events of this kind.

Haris Doukas: The fact that voters in the capital chose a low-key technocrat is promising and shows that citizens are fed up with bluster and bombast. What is needed is people who have done well in their field, who know the task at hand and who can offer serious answers and well thought plans that the “other side” can also listen to.

Abstention: Last but definitely not leat, the massive rate of voter abstention should alarm everybody. Society is reacting. Abstention may be the most moderate and passive form of reaction, but it points to the risk of the next step being a more aggressive non-systmetic vote or – even worse – behavior, with everything this might entail.