Uncertain times and the actions of political leaders
Greek domestic politics are currently like quicksand that threatens everyone, and a lot will be decided in the coming weeks by how party leaders manage political developments. For the first time in recent years, there is growing uncertainty across the ideological spectrum.
Within each party, shots – personal and political – are being fired from and in many directions. In the government camp, alongside the dissatisfaction recorded by voters in the European Parliament election, there are also internal frictions that are expressed at the highest level by the two former presidents of New Democracy who also served as prime ministers for seven and a half years. It remains to be seen whether Kostas Karamanlis will switch from distancing himself from political developments to confrontation, or if Antonis Samaras will differentiate himself even more from the government by intensifying the criticism that he has already been voicing for some time.
In SYRIZA, the main leftist opposition party, there is even greater introversion, with direct confrontations, resignations and removals of top officials. Leader Stefanos Kasselakis has chosen to manage his own losses at the ballot box earlier in June and the growing challenges to his leadership with a particularly confrontational rhetoric that can hardly be seen as strengthening his party.
In socialist PASOK, leader Nikos Androulakis has decided to seek a fresh mandate from the party base, in an environment that seems to favor other candidates who, theoretically at least, have greater prospects of appealing to a broader range of voters.
The puzzle for Kasselakis and Androulakis is complex. It is not limited to the internal politics of SYRIZA and PASOK, but also concerns the turmoil in the center-left in general, and the appeal of each politician to voters beyond the narrow boundaries of their parties.
Former prime minister (and SYRIZA’s previous leader) Alexis Tsipras, who is investing in his image abroad, with appearances at European institutions and initiatives organized by his institute, is observing those developments from a certain distance and, given his young age, does not seems to think that there is pressure to act.
Everyone is trying to maintain delicate balances. To what extent they will succeed will be seen along the way. However, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ statement at the meeting of New Democracy’s parliamentary group that “if the tree doesn’t grow taller and spread its branches, it means it has dried up,” in response to criticism that he has steered the conservatives away from their core values, is an approach directed toward many of his critics, but is certainly less confrontational than Kasselakis’ comment that “my SYRIZA will not get black money,” when he justified the suspension of the daily edition of the party newspaper.
After the European elections, with the huge voter abstention, the significant slide of New Democracy, the strengthening of the far-right, and the problems in the center-left, it is obvious that the political scene is fluid. How each leader will manage the situation within his party will determine a lot about their unity and prospects for the future.
