The behavior of Polakis and Tsipras’ effort to appeal to the center
As the days go by Greek political life will slowly return to its pre-election mood.
Among the issues that will resurface will be the internal tension in SYRIZA due to the behavior of its firebrand MP, Pavlos Polakis.
One of the questions that will come up is to what extent the main opposition party’s makeup will be affected by the whole affair. Will it be harmed or will it benefit from his antics? The answers are neither simple nor easy.
To begin with, there will be ripples and reactions, an image of in-fighting and the inevitable division between those who believe the former deputy health minister went too far and is hurting the party and those who think his ouster would be wrong.
Only time will tell which side will prevail and whether party chief Alexis Tsipras did what was right in terms of expelling him from the party or writing him off the ballot; the final outcome remains to be decided. Given the strategy Tsipras appears to have adopted by claiming that SYRIZA is “not seeking office in order to tear anything down or exact revenge, but to build,” he probably had little choice.
Polakis’ antics, which often include threats, basically undermine the former leftist prime minister’s efforts to emit greater maturity and institutional responsibility, to shift SYRIZA’s position to the center-left of the ideological spectrum and try to appeal to centrist voters.
The degree to which he will accomplish this remains to be seen. What is certain, though, is that Polakis’ entire attitude, beyond his recent controversial post, did nothing to help the party’s ideological shift toward the center or its communications strategy. His posturing may appeal to a small part of SYRIZA’s electorate, but it puts many more voters off.
As far as its broader impact on the political stage in light of the upcoming elections is concerned, the Polakis affair may trigger a more permanent rift in the party, even if the MP from Crete does not go so far as to create a new party of his own.
The other side of the coin is a rapprochement, via a gesture of high symbolism, toward undecided and disillusioned voters who are watching and judging.
This all comes as the opposition party tries to convince voters that it constitutes a viable alternative to the present center-right government, a narrative that is not served by the presence of Polakis, but by the promotion of more serious party cadres, like those who joined Tsipras at his recent long meeting with the governor of the Bank of Greece, among whom was SYRIZA’s former alternate finance minister, Giorgos Chouliarakis, who is now an economic adviser at the central bank who works with, instead of attacking its governor, Yannis Stournaras.
The internal cost to SYRIZA of the Polakis affair will become apparent soon. In contrast, the benefits in the centrist playing field will take longer to emerge, perhaps not even in time to make a difference in the elections.
