Reshuffle on the cards as PM seeks new governmental recipe

The negative result for ruling center-right New Democracy on Sunday, coupled with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ decision to cancel his visit to Jordan scheduled for Tuesday, and to appear instead on Alpha TV’s main newscast, demonstrates an intent to practice what he preached about a “new starting point,” in which a reshuffle can be a key part.

If a reshuffle does go ahead, the question is what message Mitsotakis will choose to send out, given the rise of the parties of the right, and in particular nationalist Greek Solution.

Will he signal his firm orientation toward the center or a shift to the right? 

What’s more, will he limit the number of technocrats in the cabinet and rely more on the ruling party’s MPs? 

Many pundits insist that changes are a “one-way street” after the strong message sent by the electorate, who lowered the percentage of New Democracy to the lowest of the Mitsotakis era, while raising the right-wing parties cumulatively to almost 20%. 

Kathimerini understands that the analysis of government officials is three-pronged.

First, the abstention was huge due to the lack of stakes. “Many of those who didn’t go to vote, if we had national elections, would go and vote for New Democracy again,” a government official said.

Furthermore, clear dissatisfaction was expressed toward the government over specific policies, such as those toward freelancers and lawyers. There may have been a “rectification” of policies, but the wound had been opened. 

“What do the New Democracy supporters want? Low taxes and security,” said a government source, stressing that the government should have been more committed in this direction and was not, eliciting resentment to its detriment.

Third, but not least, there is concern about the political message sent by the New Democracy base, which either abstained or chose to vote for other more right-wing parties. The same government source told Kathimerini that “the people of New Democracy told us that we should not take them for granted and they can very easily move differently.”

The more centrist part of the ND attributes the abstention also to many centrists who did not vote as a sign of protest against delayed reforms.

However, the side arguing that the casualties are from the party’s traditional base is in the majority in the parliamentary group, focusing on the issue of same-sex marriage.