Restless cohabitation in the parties
The endless rumblings in SYRIZA and the prime minister’s need to satisfy the “pure” right-wingers in New Democracy show how the country’s two largest parties are struggling to meet the time’s great changes. The climate crisis, the struggle for new balances in international politics and the economy, demographic difficulties, and the ever smaller interest of citizens in politics are threatening not only democracy but also many countries’ survival. In Greece, 50 years since the restoration of democracy, with all these problems, politics remains stuck in the clash between party leaders and notables who feel too powerful to be confined by the collective effort. In PASOK, the search for new leadership – or confirmation of the present leader – is an effort to pull the party out of the ditch and, as such, is a healthy process (as long as it ends with the election, of course). The restlessness in New Democracy and SYRIZA, though, shows backwardness, as if they prefer to gaze at their navels rather than deal with the challenges around them.
Politics remains stuck in the clash between party leaders and notables who feel too powerful to be confined by the collective effort
We care about SYRIZA because it is the main opposition party but also because its experiment in radical leadership change, with the election of a complete unknown as leader, does not appear to have brought a new spirit to the party, nor to the country’s political scene. It may be too early to judge the experiment’s result. But the Kasselakis-Polakis hybrid has shown that if one narcissist does not bow to the other, the result will be mutual dependence in which the one who ought to be exerting power gives some of it up to the other. This happens only when he feels that he has no option but to do so. Both Alexis Tsipras and Stefanos Kasselakis, who succeeded him in SYRIZA’s leadership, succumbed to the rough charms of Pavlos Polakis, with both ending up being held hostage by him.
Kasselakis, to a great extent, owes his leadership to Polakis. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on the contrary, owes nothing to those whom he is currently trying to placate. From his program, from his closest aides and his past, we know that he can read a situation well, that he knows what needs to be done. Also, he does not face elections for three years, at least. Why then does he feel the need to give in to his party’s right wing? Is he tired of reforms? Does he feel that securing marriage equality for all exhausted his political capital in the party and now he must “set things right”? Is he preparing for greater battles and needs peace on the domestic front?
The prime minister knows that the time demands consensus and a new approach to politics – one that will attract younger citizens. So, his turn towards a narrow, party audience, which tolerates him only as long as he guarantees it power, raises serious questions as to his next steps.
