Anxiety before the penalty kicks

The game should have been over on May 21, with New Democracy’s resounding victory, but our political peculiarities led to something like the penalty kicks at the end of a tied soccer match.

Although we don’t expect any great reversal of the previous election’s results, for the protagonists, this Sunday’s voting will decide their future, as well as that of their parties and the country. The previous vote established the context of today’s anxiety, determining the targets and dangers for all involved. It shaped the goalposts of expectations.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ main challenge is to match or exceed May’s victory, because that one will not mean anything unless it translates into a comfortable majority in Parliament. A result that is judged to be below expectations could be considered a miss, an injury. In other words, the goal scored by Mitsotakis will be judged on the quality of the kick, even if it is the one that decides the game. This will determine whether the leader will be omnipotent within the party or whether there will be room for dissent at some point.

For SYRIZA, the main aim is to avoid a heavier defeat than the one in May. Alexis Tsipras is standing in goal. If his party loses to ND by a wider margin, or if PASOK catches up to SYRIZA or overtakes it, Tsipras will have let in two goals at once. It will be hard for him to keep his place.

For PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, his party has to do even better than in May. He, however, has more room to fail than Tsipras, as May’s result inspired new confidence in the party. The smaller parties’ anxiety is whether they will remain in the game; staying out of Parliament will mean death.

For the Communist Party (always overheating and, at the same time, dispassionate), the question, as always, is how much energy it must expend to remain inert.

On Monday, the protagonists of our politics will be measuring the size of their victories and defeats. But the essence of the elections is what government we will have and how it will move forward. Because, despite the high drama of an extended electoral period, it is time to get to work. With no more superfluous extra time.