The first measurements taken after the accident show that N.D. records a significant drop in its numbers – about 3 units – but no leaks towards SYRIZA and PASOK, both parties remain stagnant. Why is this happening; One answer is that even among senior government officials there is a fear that the train derailment crisis could lead to a political crisis similar to the 2012 crisis, when the political system was fragmented. The upward trend recorded in the first opinion polls for small and anti-systemic parties such as the KKE, the Greek Solution of Kyriakos Velopoulos and MERA25 of Janis Varoufakis reinforces this fear. “A case of a repeat of 2012 with an explosion of anti-systemic voting is real,” says the MP from Northern Greece, who speaks of the great anger of the citizens and the movement of voters towards an unspecified vote, which at the moment cannot be traced.

But there is also a completely opposite point of view. A leading former minister whom K spoke to says the situation is “not the same as in 2012” as the current crisis is affecting the entire country on an emotional level – “there is widespread national mourning,” he said, “but it is not the same character as in 2012. Then the extreme economic crisis, when the country lost 50% of its GDP, affected everyone across the entire territory horizontally. “There is nothing comparable today,” the same source adds, pointing out the emotional charge that “will inevitably subside.” “The structural characteristics of the political system have not changed” and “the final dilemma will remain Mitsotakis or Tsipras, and the elections will answer that question.”

The accident also had a serious impact on the parliamentary group of the party, which today has a lot of excitement and a heavy atmosphere. Maximou created a special group of deputies and ministers who will fight the canals. But most leaders are currently unable to defend the government and are deeply concerned about how it will behave in constituencies. “N.D. is always in the big crises that it went through as a government, it quickly shows signs of internal disorganization,” the former deputy of parliament explains to K.

“It cannot be that by 2017 contract 717 has reached 18%, and we have reached 70%, and this has not become clear to all parties,” says Minister K.

Another major topic of debate within the ruling party is whether the decline of New Democracy as a result of the public opinion poll may have ephemeral characteristics, such as previous crises – the summer 2021 fires and wiretapping – and the North Dakota vote. after a reasonable period of time, after the election, return even further to be able to “return”. One point of view is that this crisis is completely different. It is of a different severity and occurred at the zero point in time, just before the elections. “This is a crisis – an intersection,” says the government deputy, emphasizing that the tragic accident in Tempi opened a big and difficult agenda: from chronic pathologies that could not be cured to the client’s condition. “The old Greece that we thought we were leaving behind is here and strong, and it takes a lot of effort to overcome it,” the same source adds, stressing that the government’s tolerance has run out.

Many believe that the Tempe crash reduces New Democracy’s chances of becoming self-sustaining, which before Tempe seemed like the most likely scenario. “And if not achieved?” – a reasonable question. Recently, several MPs and ministers have put forward a scenario of possible cooperation with PASOK, which, however, stumbled upon a wiretap, as its President Nikos Androulakis ruled out such a possibility. “The demand for self-reliance will inevitably recede,” says the former K minister, and does not exclude that the demand for government cooperation will eventually prevail over the preferences of public opinion.

What could be the new “narrative” of government in this new landscape? The prime minister in the last cabinet set the tone by asking his ministers to attend public debates, but “with sympathy, without any balancing act”. However, the minister told K that obviously the government should keep a low profile, but “the period during which we constantly apologize must end at some point” as “a close reading of the sequence of events reveals criminal responsibility in SYRIZA.” “. And adds that “it is impossible for the 717 contract to reach 18% by 2017, and we have reached 70%, and this will not become clear to all parties.”

At the same time, there is debate within the party about the staffing table and the extent to which it has worked, a debate that also began with wiretapping. There is an opinion that if the state state did not act as a patron, then some things could go faster. “This view is wrong, since a state state is a non-partisan government,” the opposite side believes.