The triumph and the responsibilities
The system of simple proportional representation used in the May 21 elections was a wasteful, inconvenient and costly choice – a price we paid due to the opportunism of SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, which mirrored the opportunism of the late socialist leader Andreas Papandreou.
In both cases, the electoral system was changed because New Democracy was ahead of the ruling party. However, opportunism often backfires, and the outcome was almost unprecedented: The conservative government completed its term with higher popularity than when it took office, rather than experiencing the natural wear and tear of governance. Meanwhile, support for the leftist opposition significantly declined compared to the beginning of its term. Despite losing five consecutive elections, Tsipras refuses to step down, suggesting that resignations are seen as a bourgeois habit.
I acknowledge a statement made by the prime minister on the night of the elections, where he expressed his commitment to bringing the country closer to Europe. I appreciate his position, but it is contradictory. It would be more in line with European standards if the two parties, which collectively hold 187 parliamentary seats and have no significant differences in their policy programs, engaged in negotiations to form a coalition government instead of imposing the burden of another election on the country. Kyriakos Mitsotakis rejected such horse-trading in the negotiations, but Nikos Androulakis, the leader of the third-placed PASOK party, is also accountable. If Androulakis had stated on the night of the elections that he respects the electoral outcome and intends to provide a vote of confidence, he would have gained credibility (and votes) while putting Mitsotakis in a difficult position. Greece is not yet Europe.
Mitsotakis’ triumph not only crushed SYRIZA but also defeated the party barons that challenge his leadership. No one holds the power to threaten him with bringing down the government, as Antonis Samaras did with his father in the early 1990s. Mitsotakis now has full control of the party, but he also carries the corresponding responsibilities. The excuses he made regarding concessions for the sake of party cohesion no longer hold.
There is no excuse for the Parliament’s failure to ratify the cooperation agreements with North Macedonia, nor for Greece’s treatment of former statistics boss Andreas Georgiou. We became acquainted with Mitsotakis as a bold individual who refused to vote for Prokopis Pavlopoulos as president, despite his party’s stance, and we expect him to remain steadfast.
