Greek society is changing, why Kiriakos Mitotaqis has a golden chance in the second term

2023-05-26 07:31:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Greek society is changing, why Kiriakos Mitotaqis has a golden chance in the

Illustrative photo

On May 21, Greece turned an important page in its history. Beyond the apparent victory of the Nea Demokratia (New Democracy) party, which is mainly due to the current Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, last Sunday's elections closed 2 major cycles: Metapolitefsi and the economic bankruptcy of Greece.

The first is the political process that began with the restoration of democracy after the dictatorship of the junta colonels during the years 1967-1974, and which can be considered completed with the reasonable rejection of the narrative that has dominated, with very few exceptions, politics for decades Greek.

The strategic defeat of SYRIZA in these elections clearly shows the end of specific ideological taboos. Greek citizens voted overwhelmingly for the person who can get the job done, regardless of political ideologies and theories.

They are not interested in the charisma or reincarnation of the legendary former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou. But at the same time, we saw in these elections the disappearance of traditional lines between parties. What "real New Democracy" represents is a question that worries fewer people.

Alarmists who predicted that center-right voters would stay home on election day or vote for far-right parties were disproved.

Also, in these elections it was the first time when we saw so many sympathizers of the center left, of the traditional left, former supporters of PASOK but also members of all political currents who voted this time for New Democracy .

Some did it half-heartedly, but they did it anyway. Many analysts also expected young voters to defy public opinion polls and increase support for SYRIZA. That didn't happen either. The "Tik-Tok generation" voted almost the same way as everyone else.

The result of the May 21 election also shows that the ascent of the left to power and the rise of SYRIZA may have been merely a parenthesis. The left opposition party was essentially a product of popular anger at the severe economic crisis.

Its leader, Alexis Tsipras, responded at the right time to a historical imperative and took advantage of the wave of public disillusionment, significantly strengthening his party. However, today's climate is completely different.

Nature despises a vacuum, and the race over who will dominate the opposition, and perhaps ascend to power, is now more real. History has given Micotaqi an unprecedented opportunity. What he has achieved is truly impressive.

At first he was underestimated, won the party leadership as an underdog, defeated Tsipras in a race dominated by great fear that this was impossible. Then he made some fatal mistakes, was damaged by them, was underestimated again, and then managed to win again, by an incredible margin.

Now he will be asked to challenge another widely held axiom: that every prime minister's second term is worse than his first. Micotaqis has no rivals, neither inside nor outside his party. He is seeing a steady rise in the polls.

He knows exactly what needs to change in this country. This is a historic and unprecedented opportunity. His biggest enemy may be the lack of modesty and humility that often comes after a triumph, especially when there is no one on the other side of the field.

However, what happened on Sunday was much bigger than the personalities involved in the race.

The result signaled the defeat of the miserable naysayers who despise change and progress. A critical mass of voters declared that they are ready for big changes and turned their backs on the mentality to oppose anything that disrupts the status quo. Society is changing, and whoever does not understand this will be left behind./ Adapted from CNA.al