ND designates Kasselakis as the major foe
Less than two months ahead of the European Parliament elections, ruling New Democracy, to its relief, has found that it can focus on one main rival, not two.
Having a single bogeyman to attack and attempt to delegitimize is the sine qua non – literally “without which, not” – precondition for every successful election campaign.
The recent recapture of second place in the polls by main opposition SYRIZA, which has put some distance between it and PASOK, has made the ruling party’s job easier than when both center-left parties were bunched closer together, with PASOK even claiming second place for some months.
Even though New Democracy still maintains a lead well into the double digits in polls over the runner-up, it is not letting down its guard: The fact that European elections do not have any domestic consequences makes a protest vote easier, parties to the right of conservative New Democracy poll strongly and there is enough voter discontent to dent ND’s aura of invincibility that it had enjoyed after its triumph in the double election in May and June 2023.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has recently sharpened his attacks on SYRIZA leader Stefanos Kasselakis, especially after the latter called for early national elections supervised by international observers.
Ruling party officials firmly believe that Mitsotakis has the advantage over Kasselakis in the public arena, despite the latter’s media-friendliness.
And Mitsotakis and his aides say that Kasselakis’ self-assurance masks a lack of substance and a Trump-like rhetoric far from the party’s leftist roots.
Both SYRIZA and PASOK claim that they have only one foe: Mitsotakis. But SYRIZA officials say they “will not leave PASOK’s provocations unanswered” and PASOK’s say that Kasselakis “is essentially apolitical and, with his choices and public utterances, constantly provides the government with an alibi.”
