On election night, it was really hard for ND cadres to believe that their only chance to form a government was with PASOK’s blessing and in order to make this government stick, Bakoyannis’ ‘Democratic Alliance’ needed to enter parliament. Failing completely was unprecedented.
Greece’s European left (SYRIZA) on the other hand is living a landmark moment in its 10-year history. Since 2003, SYRIZA played the role of the poor relative who always fought to pass the 3% threshold to Parliament. Most people used to look at it sympathetically, hoping someone would vote for them to enrich the House mix. Last Sunday was a good opportunity to act on it; that is to give Alexis Tsipras some power he could play with, in order to have a role and exercise pressure to the big boys.
However, casting a punishment vote is totally different from offering a mandate. What was in the mind of former PASOK sympathisers who voted away from their old party? Is SYRIZA a rebound relationship for centre-left voters? Will they stick around until next elections? The answer lies more on PASOK’s ability to gain them back and less on Alexis’ talent to turn anger into ‘governmentability’.
Greece’s European left (SYRIZA) on the other hand is living a landmark moment in its 10-year history. Since 2003, SYRIZA played the role of the poor relative who always fought to pass the 3% threshold to Parliament. Most people used to look at it sympathetically, hoping someone would vote for them to enrich the House mix. Last Sunday was a good opportunity to act on it; that is to give Alexis Tsipras some power he could play with, in order to have a role and exercise pressure to the big boys.
However, casting a punishment vote is totally different from offering a mandate. What was in the mind of former PASOK sympathisers who voted away from their old party? Is SYRIZA a rebound relationship for centre-left voters? Will they stick around until next elections? The answer lies more on PASOK’s ability to gain them back and less on Alexis’ talent to turn anger into ‘governmentability’.
As I argued elsewhere, the campaign policy of ND and PASOK focused on branding techniques, putting the two politicians in the middle of their messaging systems. That failed miserably. Both parties’ campaigns polarized political rhetoric and used populist techniques and open rallies that attracted an impressively low number of people.
ND and PASOK declared that they would attempt to form a national unity government. Both leaders implied this is the responsible thing to do. However, too many new parties have just made their way based on the anti-MoU rhetoric. So, after Samaras failed in his 6-hour attempt to form a government, the second and the third mandate will probably fail too. Then a leaders’ council will convene and President Karolos Papoulias will declare the end of the attempts and proclaim new elections for June (10th or 17th).
Last Sunday, in his attempt to stress the importance of the day, Venizelos said: “in Greece we do not have two-round elections, one used as a pressure valve and the second destined to be a decision round”. Apparently however, this time, we will need a second round to decide. But it won’t be easy. Three things need to happen:
First, New Democracy needs to go through a complete lifting of the upper level of advisors and strategists; the campaign has been a ‘what to avoid’ case study and the rhetoric was obsolete.
Second, PASOK needs to stay put and be a bit more humble and sorry about its government record, play the party history card and eventually gain back 2-3 percentage points to secure second position.
Third, a liberal front should be created (Democratic Alliance, Drasi, ‘Creation-again’ parties) to secure any future government via a centrist dynamic. In order to prove that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, the leaders of the two first older parties may have to step aside and guarantee stability, allowing younger people to lead the effort.
In the next 10 days, the political field in Greece will resemble a chessboard that could lead either to a massacre or a new government scheme that could rule the country. Antonis, Evangelos, Dora, Stephanos and Thanos should make their choices.
Dr. Demetris KamarasEditor
dailyGreece.net new europe on line
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