“From grandfather to grandfather, the hand didn’t go anywhere, I have always voted for PASOK. That’s how we grew up, that’s what we knew.” With these words, the 44-year-old man opened our discussion about the recent elections. Helen. As ideological as he may have been elsewhere, this time he cast aside sentimentality and opted for New Democracy. purely economicselfish, he says, to some. freelancerin the period from 2015 to 2019, 30,000-40,000 euros were collected from insurance premiums made by SYRIZA.

“I have my own office with three employees and my tax return is 100,000 euros per year. SYRIZA taxed us at 42%, insurance premiums at a rate of 1/4 of our income, but since we have not one fund, but two more, the premiums have increased to 31%, that is, in the amount of 80%. And among all this, we also had a 100% advance tax.

“I’m paying for the sins of four years 2015-2019”

I couldn’t live, I didn’t even have cigarettes. Now I am paying for the sins of those four years,” he tells K. As he explains, the ground in favor of New Democracy has already been laid since 2019, following the announcement by Kyriakos Mitsotakis to reduce the advance tax to 50%. What stopped her was her sister’s candidacy for PASOK. However, this year, after fulfilling his obligations in the financial sector, Mitsotakis voted for him with his eyes closed.

“I didn’t even read Andrulaki’s policy statements, with what I saw in 2019 that he did what he promised, nothing else interested me. I didn’t care about surveillance or anything like that. All I cared about was if I could survive. And with SYRIZA, not only did I not survive, but I was abused,” he adds.

Therefore, as Eleni admits, her protest vote.

“I didn’t vote for New Democracy. I voted against SYRIZA, that’s the difference, and that’s what most people don’t understand. I’ll go with the least bad. And that was the least bad thing, because what he said, maybe not 100%, but 50%, he did. And he promised to make the remaining 50%. I’m not ND and didn’t vote for Mitsotakis because he gave me confidence, I just didn’t want SYRIZA to come out.”

As for how her parents reacted to her decision…they told me not to set foot in Crete. But, after a mature discussion, they seemed to accept it, they said “do whatever you want, just don’t say it.” It’s great to have an ideology and I wanted to change the world in my 20s, but when you don’t have to survive as long as you have a job and money, you weigh things differently.”

And as he admits, until he pays off his debts, he will live in anxiety all the time. “If I break my leg tomorrow morning, I will have to pay all my debts. I can’t get pregnant, no one pays me, and I pay insurance premiums, funds, etc. We have connected capital with money. We do not put money aside, money is simply recycled. We work to be indebted to the state. We are the dose of the dose.”

From SYRIZA to N.D.

For markarchitect and artist, 51, has been voting since the 1980s. Internal KKE, Coalition and then SYRIZAthe fear of collapsing the country and returning to the times of 2015 was the criterion by which he decided.

“Perhaps as you get older, you become more conservative and don’t want the carpet constantly pulled out from under your feet.”

“I see that Mr. Mitsotakis has made an effort, he is much more liberal than the old New Democracy, much more open, and the main thing that influenced my decision is that the economy works, I have a job, in 2012 I would change country to find a job as an architect. In 2015, I had an exhibition at the gallery that I had dreamed of all my life, and the banks closed. So I couldn’t take the madness anymore, maybe with age you become more conservative and do not want to have the carpet pulled out from under your feet all the time, ”he says to“ K ”. While he considers the people of SYRIZA to be more honest, New Democracy, on the other hand, is, in his opinion, a “well-oiled machine.”

“When I voted for SYRIZA in 2015, it was purely ideological – to leave the old ones and try something new. Now I voted with the logic that I have stability, I know that Mitsotakis is not perfect, but at least the country is working. And maybe ten years ago I was even more ideological, but now we have gone through crises, covid and it seems that experiments can no longer withstand. It was more of a conservative vote in terms of keeping what we have. We have tourism, we have a good image abroad, we are not scolded from everywhere.”

Commenting on this ballot box result he declares himself shocked and, now fearful of heightened proportionality, confesses that he will defect to another party.

“I was shocked by the result and I will definitely not vote for New Democracy, I will vote for SYRIZA or any smaller party. Because I want a counterbalance, I don’t want to give N.D. omnipotence. and accountable to no one.”

As for the changes that he would like to see in the party with which he is ideologically linked, these are: “stronger cadres, not the old PASOK, but new people who you will feel honest, and a program that is more realistic, not voting “. hunting”.

“For small parties, so that there are many”

For a 38 year old Annaa lawyer by profession, there is a large deficit in the representation of centrist voters, which, he says, explains the indecision of a large part of the Greeks.

“I come from a family where my mother was a PASOKQU extremist and my father was a neo-democrat. My sister was SYRIZA and I was New Democracy, because her program expressed me, mainly the politics of Samara. Now he does not express me, because I do not support the Mitsotakis government. And in 2015 I was N.D. only because he read the memos and did not want to strengthen SYRIZA. This year, I didn’t want a large percentage to go to N.D. gain self-confidence, because this is how absolute authoritarian regimes are created,” he tells K.

This was also the reason why he voted for a small party, namely Plefsis Eleftherias.

“I wanted to have variety. In the second round, I will see where the scales tilt so that ND does not increase. I am very unhappy with the result, I could have gone with SYRIZA but not with PASOK because I think that is the one who destroyed the country because he passed the memos in one night without a popular mandate and then the hot potato exploded. SYRIZA,” he adds.

He claims that the problem with SYRIZA is in its leaders.

“SYRIZA has good left roots, but it doesn’t have a serious agenda. He does not have the necessary managers, he must put in new faces, with appetite, who listen to society. And may my generation and those who vote in small parties only to protest express the same. In fact, I believe that if Tsipras leaves, the party is over, it does not make sense to exist.