With the speech by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the proceedings of the New Democracy congress are being concluded. The Prime Minister will close the congress proceedings, which will essentially mark for the party the beginning of its pre-election campaign from tomorrow. The message that the ruling party seeks to convey is that in the face of an international environment of instability and internal challenges, political stability and continuity of reforms constitute the basic narrative for the next electoral contest.
“I remembered my own participation in the party’s great celebration, back in 1986, at New Democracy’s second congress, which charted our course that would bring us victories. I spent considerable time talking with party officials, with friends who came from abroad. I witnessed the pride, and we have every right to be proud of everything the party has accomplished,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis began his speech while making clear jabs at the opposition, referring to toxicity.
“Greece deserves to continue achieving goals that only New Democracy can realize. The economy is a prerequisite for a strong Greece. We discussed a modern state, major infrastructure projects. The time has come to inaugurate infrastructure and energy projects that will transform us into an international crossroads. We focused on the need for certainty in an uncertain planet. I noted our differences with the other political forces. Whether it’s artificial intelligence or international crises. They concern the country’s tomorrow that dawns from today. What other party has the willingness to look challenges in the eye?”
Watch live the third day of the New Democracy congress:
ND congress: Mitsotakis’s message for third consecutive government term
Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to focus on two main axes: clear political dilemmas against the opposition and the need to maintain intra-party cohesion. Special emphasis is expected to be placed on government interventions and economic support measures planned for the coming period.
Regarding the interventions by top officials, such as Nikos Dendias, during the Congress that sparked political discussions within the party, the Prime Minister appears unlikely to give continuity, seeking to close any discussion about inward-looking tendencies. The question is whether he will reference the interventions by officials like Adonis Georgiadis and Takis Theodorikakos, who raised the issue of bridging relations with former prime ministers Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras.
The Prime Minister is expected to repeat the messages he sent speaking Friday evening before approximately 2,500 party officials and members, outlining the basic political dilemma upon which New Democracy’s pre-election strategy will be based. “If I had to put it in an image, why should someone vote for us again, let them just think that if the emergency phone rings at 03:00 in the morning, who will answer it and what will they say in a world of instability and uncertainty?” he said characteristically. He then posed the dilemma on a personal leadership level, saying: “The dilemma of the next ballot is specific. It’s not ‘Mitsotakis or chaos.’ It’s ‘Mitsotakis or Androulakis.’ It’s ‘Mitsotakis or Tsipras.’ It’s ‘Mitsotakis or Konstantopoulou,’ ‘Mitsotakis or anyone else.'”
