“The state is me, the party is me”, declared Kyriakos Mitsotakis from the anniversary Congress of the National Democratic Party, which he turned into a personal hegemonic fiesta.
At the same time, he made the upcoming showdown of the European elections his personal bet. While in the electoral contests the previous leaders of the National Democratic Party preached “all-out” in order to mobilize the party’s base and the party’s electorate, Kyriakos Mitsotakis puts his personal political hegemony at stake in the European elections. It was done by AdonHis Georgiadis, who asked the audience of the Conference: “Some people want to overthrow Kyriakos Mitsotakis, shall we let them?” With the princely perception that possesses him, Kyriakos Mitsotakis reprimands and poses the extortionate dilemma to his officials: “Abstinence, inactivity and indifference are not allowed… Every shadow could cloud and question the course of the country and open a back door to new adventures. And no small complaint is worth the same as a big collective progress. It is time for everything to be weighed with its true weight.”
Kyriakos Mitsotakis insists on the strategy that made a modest political family scion elected president of the ND. through a controversial election process, prime minister of eight years: no acknowledgment of error, no apology and no self-criticism is allowed to overshadow the image of the “unborn leader”. Any adaptation to changing moods – eg. in the crime of the Tempes- is dismissed as a sign of weakness. MPs and officials may disagree, but that is of no concern to the leader, there are many ways to pressure them into alignment. The Mitsotakis system spread corruption to the base of the social pyramid. The survival of MPs and the maintenance of their party clientele depend on the distribution of public money, but also on the “synergies” with the businessmen who still passionately support it, since it is the first time in the Post-colonial period that they enjoy such privileges.
Fracture limit with Samara – Karamanli
To the question posed by Adoniis Georgiadis, there are many MPs and executives who would answer, if the party savoir vibr would allow them, “of course we will let them or we will help them”.
The neo-liberal, neo-Mitsotaki mutation of the N.D., the emergence of elements from Semitic modernization, the contempt for the traditions of the popular Right have reached the breaking point. It was evident at the Congress from the attitude of the two former prime ministers, Antonis Samaras and Costas Karamanlis. As if they were doing a chore just by their presence, they did not take the floor and even avoided applauding the prime minister. The reaction of Antonis Samaras to the candidacy of his former partner Giorgos Mouroutis in the European elections is a sign that in this contest he does not intend to mobilize his personal apparatus, contrary to what he did in the national and self-governing ones. For Kostas Karamanlis, there is no question. He severed his relations with the Mitsotakis system as early as the wiretapping, withdrew from parliamentary life and has since realized the national dangers posed by the politics of the man who usurped the legacy of the former Karamanli faction. The limit point at which the Mitsotakis leadership is, however, becomes evident in a part of the party base, where large leaks towards the extreme right of the political spectrum are observed.
Embarrassment and risk
To turn the European elections into a personal bet is a sign of embarrassment and high-risk politics. Despite the support of the propaganda apparatus, the image of Kyriakos Mitsotakis shows significant cracks, while his popularity is also decreasing. To “why does he do it?”, the answer given by several of his MPs is “because he has nothing else to propose”. But what does not have an answer is “why should the public dissatisfied with the marriage of same-sex couples and the prolonged precision of the popular Right, who are looking for a protest vote for Kyriakos Velopoulos or Aphrodite Latinopoulos, convert because of Kyriakos Mitsotakis?”. The only answer is that right-wing publics react violently when they are told that power is in danger. At this point, however, Kyriakos Mitsotakis committed a tactical error by replying to Stefanos Kasselakis that “the elections will be held at the end of the four years”. If the government is not in danger, then a protest vote as a signal to change course is allowed if not forced.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis puts his leadership in the balance of the elections. Possible negative result and mainly the reversal of the political dynamic – decline of the N.D. and rise of SYRIZA-P.S. as it appears – he will signal his personal challenge from the very next day of the European elections. In the absolute manner in which he exercised his power, the beginning of the downward course may develop into an avalanche. That is why, according to what is commonly said, he is playing his change, while at the same time he is looking for an escape route either in a European office or in the IMF. Of course, in Greece the prime ministers do not change in the middle of the term – the only exception was George Papandreou, in 2011, in special circumstances -, however his basic choices will be questioned. It is not unimportant that the always hesitant Nikos Dendias made his presence felt at the Conference. Having normalized his relations with the party sub-systems, he presents himself as the only dolphin and potential pole against Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
