Kathimerini: "Who will take this podium?"

The influential Greek publication Kathimerini, which is associated with the New York Times, as well as with the Greek New Democracy party, published a discussion about who will take the place of the leader of the ruling party in the face of a sharp drop in Mitsotakis’s ratings.

The leader of the party during the election period is more than a “showcase”. This is a person who embodies the strategy of the party. Therefore, the closer the elections, the more the concern grows over the election campaign that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will choose to give the “general battle”. As a decision that symbolizes the government’s achievements, but at the same time serves its demand to reach out to the audience of ND supporters, the name of Kyriakos Pyrrhakakis was first discussed. However, the facts are constantly changing, and the scenarios and proposals coming to the Prime Minister are numerous and contradictory. The possibilities of the prime minister’s administration are not inexhaustible, since a government spokesman cannot be a candidate for deputy.

The first question that needs to be answered is: what kind of pre-election strategy will the representative of power have to undertake. The current one, Giannis Ikonomou, for example, is a traditional centre-right who speaks (also) to the party audience. Will the model stay the way it is, or will Mr. Mitsotakis decide something else is needed?

The scenario of the “centrist” representative is the scenario that has dominated for a long time.

Is a person with experience outside of ND preferred? The logic from which it proceeds is that in order to achieve the great electoral goal of self-sufficiency, it is necessary to attract centrist voters. It was they who in 2019 also provided a small but absolutely necessary “push” to win the elections. It is they who now seem to be distancing themselves from the ND, which has become toxic due to the surveillance of the opposition. In this context, Kyriakos Pyrrakakis is the ideal choice for many. A native of PASOK, with extensive experience in his ministry, where he is one of the most popular ministers, and quite young in age (he is 39 years old), he is considered able to ideally represent the identity that the Mitsotakis government wants to project.

The choice, however, should be considered far from final, since there are other considerations. Chief among them is that Mr. Pyrrakakis, who from the very beginning decided to run in Athens as a cross-party candidate and feverishly prepared for his nomination, will be left out as a militant electoral force if he goes to the State Council (Supreme Court Greece). The calculations in Athens show that the minister of digital governance will pull a critical mass of votes from the centrists to the “New Democracy”. At the same time, there are many who are sure that Kyriakos Pyrrakakis should be considered a key figure for another reason: Mitsotakis’ program will be almost never challenged by anyone, except for Mr. Chrysochoidis, who is from the older generation – thus weakening the expansion narrative. His legitimacy at the ballot box – which would also mean his eventual incorporation “from below” into the neo-democratic family – is said to be favored by Pyrrhakakis himself, though that doesn’t mean he’ll mind if he is eventually asked to contribute from the podium.

The scenario of “centrist” delegates has long been dominant. In this context, the names of Kyriakos Pierrakakis and Akis Skertsos are discussed.

Another person with appropriate political characteristics who could take the post of representative of the government is Akis Skertsos. Also a centrist who held a senior position in Mitsotakis’s three-year government, he is seen by many as a “safe bet” that also epitomizes the stigma of a centrist and reformer. And the more observant note that the “technocrat” Skertos has recently acquired a sharper political discourse than in the past.

Another model, quite different, that might be Mitsotakis’s choice is that of an outspoken party member, with a strong appeal to the foundations of New Democracy. In this context, the name of Deputy Defense Minister Nikos Hardalias was mentioned. In addition, he refuses the scenario of being a candidate for deputy, which means that he will not even have the dilemma of the State Council. A “people’s hero” in the first phase of the pandemic, he also suffered in the second phase from the damage caused by disaster management in the summer of 2021. Overexcitement inevitably led to a decline in his popularity, which, nevertheless, remains high. It is no coincidence that in the southern sector of Athens, where he was considered a candidate, they are ready to elect him as a member of parliament. On the plus side, he has a popular profile, something most ND members lack.

The negative point is that he has no experience of confrontation in the media. However, Mr. Hardalias is a man with party recommendations who could become a “party icon” if the government sees fit to rally its traditional audience.

Anna-Michel Asimakopoulou has similar characteristics. Having worked during the very difficult years of the Samaras government, she was the press secretary of the New Democracy party, and recently Mitsotakis entrusted her with the post of press secretary of the European Parliament.

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