Meteorites and dead ends
What is happening in the political opposition at the moment is very bad. It is bad for everyone. SYRIZA turns out to have been an opportunistic formation based on the charisma of former leader (and premier) Alexis Tsipras and was the product of great and justified public anger.
Current leader Stefanos Kasselakis arrived like a meteorite from the United States and SYRIZA was transformed from an anti-systemic protest party into a combination of Machiavellian thriller and comedy that has a bit of everything: backroom deals and advisers, lifestyle, unrestrained ambitions and conspiracies. It certainly cannot convince voters that this is a political party that can govern in the foreseeable future. Lots of show, little politics.
At the same time, PASOK is again looking for a new leader. The problem is that none of the candidates seems to be gaining ground or making any special impression on society. At this stage, it is very difficult to imagine PASOK escaping the lower double-digit percentages in opinion polls and claiming top spot. In the center-left that PASOK is called upon to represent, two strong, opposing opinions collide: those who want a leader who will be called to co-govern with the ruling conservatives and those who want to fill the void of the dynamic and noisy opposition left by SYRIZA.
The fact is, however, that at this time there is no strong and convincing contender for power on the horizon. There is the famous “None,” chosen by respondents of opinion polls when asked who is the best choice for prime minister and a very large percentage of anti-systemic – mainly right-wing – voters, but it is fragmented and without a main leader to express it. The clientele is there anyway, as well as the votes and the money.
However, the lack of an opposition and a main opponent does a lot of harm to the government and the prime minister. When voters get angry, for X reasons, it is important for them to feel that “OK, I’m not voting for him again, next time I’ll vote for so-and-so.” When so-and-so is nowhere to be seen, the anger grows and, worst of all, it focuses on the present head of the government. The trapped voter who has nothing else to vote for is angrier, more prone to unlikely choices, and will be easily seduced by the next meteorite that drops into our political scene out of nowhere.
