ND seeking powerful mandate

As ruling leftist SYRIZA seeks to pick up the pieces in the wake of its resounding defeat in local, regional and European Parliament elections and to look for a new narrative that will carry it to national elections on July 7, New Democracy is looking at the realistic prospect of forming a majority government.

In an interview on Antenna TV on Monday, ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that if he does form a majority government he will seek to make it an inclusive one – though he excluded the possibility of cooperation with SYRIZA and nationalists at the end of the political spectrum such as Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution).

He added that ND will aim for the largest possible percentage of the vote in the election so as to ensure a powerful mandate that will enable it to quickly implement reforms for the benefit of the country.

Mitsotakis also announced that ND will withdraw from Parliament on Tuesday as it is “delegitimized” because the government has lost the confidence of the electorate.

Referring to the resounding victory of conservatives in the elections, he said he was not surprised. Winning by nine percentage points in the European election, he said, was “something that satisfies us but didn’t surprise me.”

“We managed to gradually to gain the ever increasing confidence of our fellow citizens,” he said, adding that he want to builds on the result to win over those that did not vote for conservatives on May 26.

As for his party’s strategy in the runup to the elections, he said he would break with tradition and not hold rallies, apart from one in central Athens.

Analyzing the election results, New Democracy officials said on Monday that the party’s strong showing, which saw conservative-backed candidates clinching the capital’s mayorship and virtually all Greek regions, has essentially erased SYRIZA’s narrative that it “represents the many.”

With ND winning 12 out of Greece’s 13 regions, conservative pundits say the results prove that Mitsotakis’ positive message resonated with the electorate.

They specifically mentioned the ND victories in the so-called “non-privileged municipalities” in Attica, like Aegaleo, Korydallos, Elefsina, Mandra and Aspropyrgos.

Conservatives also point to the fact that out of the country’s 332 municipalities, 152 of the mayors elected are ND members.