Playing a role within ND
Thirty years and six months ago, just a few days before parliamentary elections in Britain, on May 4, 1979, a small London-based newspaper dedicated its front page to a cartoon. It was of Margaret Thatcher wearing a plastic apron and wielding a broom. The title was «Give the girl a chance.» This coming Sunday, another young woman, here in Greece, Dora Bakoyannis, will be vying for the leadership of New Democracy and, in time, the position of prime minister. The similarities between the two probably end there. Thatcher’s victory in 1979 came as little surprise: The real shocker had come in 1975 when she was elected to lead the Tories. The fact that the daughter of a grocer rose through the ranks of the conservatives, a party traditionally associated with the British upper class, was groundbreaking. Furthermore, Thatcher, a stubborn politician, was also the vehicle through which Britain promoted then-revolutionary neoliberal policies. Back to Greece. Bakoyannis has been expertly groomed for years to ascend to take the helm of New Democracy but, for reasons unknown, rather than choosing to adopt a revolutionary role, she has instead appeared as yet another version of the status quo, the conventional establishment of ND that led the party to its electoral defeat in early October. Bakoyannis has also made it quite clear that she belongs in the party, but she did it in such a way that suggested she has become part of the furniture. This is why the vast majority of ministers in the party of Costas Karamanlis supported her. Therefore, Antonis Samaras has emerged as the only candidate capable of renewing New Democracy and raising the party’s morale. In three days, we will know which strategy worked best.
