‘Do you see anyone better?’

This government often shifts responsibility to third parties: The high cost of living is blamed on “imported inflation,” soaring electricity prices on the war in Ukraine, and destructive wildfires on “uncleared plots,” among other things. While there may be some truth to these claims, they do not address the problem comprehensively. Worse, they obscure underlying issues, allowing them to persist.

At the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis took this to the extreme. When asked: “When will you decide on the president of the republic and based on what criteria? Will you use the revised constitutional provision requiring only 151 votes, or will you seek broader consensus?”, he deflected the responsibility onto the media.

“I regret the recycling of this discussion,” he said. “However, it is very unfair to both [the president of the republic, Katerina Sakellaropoulou] and the institution itself that the discussion about the next president of the republic is being revived endlessly and prematurely” (Thessaloniki, 8.9.2024).

There is, of course, a simple way to end this discussion and relieve the prime minister of unnecessary concern. He could clarify that he plans to follow the precedent set by the governments of the Metapolitefsi era, which, in their second term, proposed the same president as they had in their first term. There was no debate in 2000 when Kostis Stefanopoulos was re-elected, nor in 2008 when Karolos Papoulias was re-elected.

Conversely, there was considerable fuss before 1985 when the issue of Konstantinos Karamanlis’ re-election arose. At that time, Andreas Papandreou was unequivocal. When asked if his PASOK party would support Karamanlis, a conservative, he responded, “Do you see anyone better?” He ultimately yielded to the sirens of populism.

George Stephanopoulos, drawing on his experience as White House spokesperson, advised his successors in his memoirs: If everything goes wrong, blame the press. Therefore, the media should not be blamed for the “recycling of this discussion,” and they certainly do not wish to upset the prime minister. This discussion is taking place publicly among New Democracy officials, is certainly being debated within the administration, and is likely being weighed at Maximos Mansion – although this should not be a topic of discussion at all. Journalists are not responsible for creating or recycling it, despite their natural inclination to focus more on personalities than on policies.