New Democracy’s 50th anniversary

This year New Democracy, Greece’s ruling party, is celebrating its 50th anniversary. As the main political force of the center right, ND had been at the forefront of re-establishing democracy in 1974, under the leadership of Konstantinos Karamanlis who returned from exile that year and founded the party.

Over the five decades that followed, New Democracy has shown resilience and an ability to adapt more than any other party regardless of ideology.

Even during the economic crisis of the previous decade, while the main force of the center left until then, PASOK, was permanently tarnished, New Democracy managed to “survive.”

Although it did pay a hefty price itself, it remained relatively strong and popular enough to continue as a protagonist on the country’s political scene.

It quickly recovered from the lows of the elections of May 2012, where it got 19%, and within a month, in a second poll that was mandated by the inconclusive results of the first, it jumped back to 30%, confirming its strong sense of self-preservation.

That, in contrast to PASOK which in the years of the crisis dropped to as low as 5% and never really recovered. It is now polling around 12%, while ND has returned to its traditional share of around 40%.

Now, as it enters its sixth decade, the main challenge it faces is from within, as it struggles to keep responding to the priorities of both centrist and conservative voters; not an easy task.

The latest example of this internal ideological rift is the issue of gay marriage, the legalization of which with the strong support of the prime minister has resulted in a deep division between the liberal and the conservative wings of the party.

Looking back over the last half a century, New Democracy can be credited with many acts that benefited the country, with the accession to the European Union topping the list, as well as advances on the economic, political and social fronts, although generally speaking it is not identified with many visionary reforms.

It acted more as a manager of political power rather than a force for innovation.

Still, even political opponents and critics cannot dispute the many contributions of the country’s center-right party which, during this often-tumultuous period, has served as a pillar of stability and continuity.