Questions two plus one concern Piraeus on the last leg of the journey to new polls June 25wherefore, by his order Mrs Mitsotakis complacency does not prevail, despite its decisive victory N.D. in last Sunday’s match.

– Firstly, whether the fact that N.D. has clearly passed the level of self-confidence in percentage terms and that there is no threat to the claim to first place from SYRIZA this could lead ruling party voters to the beaches rather than the polls. That is, a possible abstention, which was initially identified as a problem for SYRIZA, since the elections will be organized with the start of the summer season, may become a “splinter” for it.

– Secondly, in the electorate, the stakes of the elections should shift to the struggle for hegemony in the center-left space. That is, some citizens, instead of voting for the formation of a government, choose based on which party they want to have the reins of government in the opposition arena.

And finally, as noted by senior officials, the question that remains to be answered on the evening of June 25 is whether the 2023 dual elections are “a defeat for SYRIZA and populism with permanent characteristics and therefore of a strategic nature or not.” In the second case, and if Piraeus answered yes to the first two questions, it is clear that in addition to providing self-confidence with a particularly strong parliamentary majority for the ND, the country will move into a completely different political environment that will affect the overall development of events in the next four of the year.

Key 39%

The message should be sent to voters that the formation of a government is not guaranteed, even with 39%.

In any case, based on the questions above, Mr. Mitsotakis has formulated a strategy for the next four weeks, which has already begun to unfold. N.D. will consistently send the message that the upcoming elections have the sole stake of forming a stable and strong government, and not that the official opposition Al. Tsipras or about N. Androulakis.

At the same time it will be pointed out that there should be no lost votes in relation to last Sunday: on the basis of the new electoral law and in the event that the next parliament is seven-party – with the entry of Victory and Freedom Departure – perhaps, respectively, according to the sum of the parties that will remain outside the parliament, N.D. will exceed 39% and will not be able to form an independent government. Finally, Mr. Mitsotakis will be particularly strict with any display of arrogance or “rest” by leaders—high and low—who have secured their election and will not be subjected to the stress of the cross.

Significantly, the ND President immediately stopped debating the goal of 180 seats, so that the ND would have the absolute initiative of the movements during the next revision of the Constitution. He also said that when forming a new government, the key criterion will be the active participation of candidates for ministers in the election campaign conducted by the party.

Dilemmas

As for, finally, the strategy of N.D. the remaining four weeks also have some aspects that are expected to be finalized immediately. With regard to the latter, the question arises whether N.D. will emphasize and “quantify” the need to exceed 39% in order to “fix” self-confidence. Some in Piraeus believe that the Blues should “nail down” a specific percentage so that it became clear to citizens who voted overwhelmingly for stability last Sunday that there was no room for other options in the June 25 ballot box. or for abstinence. Others, however, argue that if the ND sets an electoral target more than two percentage points below its election results in the May 21 showdown, it could ooze defeatism.

The second problem for Piraeus is the political management of the Nika party, which last Sunday was on the verge of a 3% cap to enter parliament. Mr. Mitsotakis’ headquarters suggests that Zoe Constantinopoulou’s “Swimming to Freedom” party will be present in the next parliament, as frustrated voters of SYRIZA, G. Varoufakis’s MeRA 25 and other reservoirs of so-called anti-systemic voting can contribute to it. Given this fact, any entry of Nika leading to a seven-party parliament would significantly raise the bar for ND independence, while certainly curtailing its new parliamentary strength (from the nine seats won by the party, which is more than 3%, the four come from the first party).

So the question for Piraeus is whether he will include in his campaign speech emphasizing the special characteristics of the newly formed party that is moving to the right, along with Mr. Velopoulos’ Greek decision, or whether he will “circumvent” it. Some say that the second way may be safer, otherwise Nicky will “advertise” himself, expanding his potential electoral audience. It should be noted that according to the analysis of Sunday’s results, Nika, despite her very conservative rhetoric, occupied a low place among pensioners, apparently because she passed by their radars and they did not know her.