With the backing of four opinion polls, New Democracy enters this week’s final stretch for both the official start of the Constitutional Revision process and a mini cabinet reshuffle in government and party. “Any changes, from what I know, will be of limited scale. They will take place on Thursday after the election of the new secretary of New Democracy’s Political Committee, a position for which Konstantinos Kyranakis will be a candidate,” Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis said (on Ertnews).
The first polls after the official presentation of the parties by Maria Karystianos and Alexis Tsipras show they cause much greater disruption and damage to opposition parties and much less, minimal at least for now, to the ruling party. In order of poll appearance, Pulse (SKAI) gives 29.5% voting intention to ND and second place, with a 14-point difference, to Alexis Tsipras’s Hellenic Left Alliance. In GPO (Star), New Democracy maintains a clear lead with 28.6%, followed by ELAS with 15.1%. In Metron Analysis’s (MEGA) voting intention, the percentages at the top are similar, with ND gathering 28.5% and ELAS 15.2%. Marc (Proto Thema) shows 30.8% for ND in voting intention, with ELAS at 15.7%. All this, of course, awaiting potential announcements from Antonis Samaras about founding his own party, which could shift some ND voters to his side.
Meanwhile, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is “refreshing” and renewing the composition at high levels of both party and government, creating the final formation that will fight the electoral battle in a few months. Makis Voridis’s return comes through his appointment as chairman of Parliament’s constitutional revision committee, which will convene on Wednesday and begin work on Thursday. New general secretary of New Democracy’s political committee will be current Deputy Transport Minister Konstantinos Kyranakis. “From the day I joined DAP-NDFK 21 years ago as a freshman student until today, I have never felt greater honor in my political career. I fully understand my responsibility to the history of the movement I’ve loved since childhood, and to every New Democracy member regardless of their generation,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
His election will take place Wednesday afternoon, at the first session of ND’s Political Committee with its new composition, as it emerged after the ruling party’s recent congress. The Kyranakis choice is, according to government sources, another move of practical support by the prime minister for the party’s thirty-something generation who combine party experience, presence and credentials, similar to the 2021 selection of Pavlos Marinakis for the same position, as well as many other government officials and candidates on ND’s ballots.
The challenge now, as the same sources emphasize, is revitalizing the party base and reactivating citizens who remain emotionally close to ND but have distanced themselves from active participation – an audience that either remains silent or watches from afar. In this field, they stress, Mr. Kyranakis has a crucial advantage: he can speak to both party audiences and reach communities that traditional parties struggle to approach.
The remaining changes are expected to be announced Thursday and concern the government formation. They start with two vacant positions: the Deputy Environment Minister post, held by the late Nikos Tagaras, and the Deputy Transport Minister position. For the first, the names reportedly on the table are Evvia MP Thanasis Zembilis, a lawyer by profession, and Ioannina MP Giorgos Amyras, who served in the same post from 2021-2023. Candidates also include Pella MP Dionysis Stamenitsis, a civil engineer with environmental policy studies, who resigned last year as deputy agricultural development minister due to his name appearing in published OPEKEPE dialogues. Recommendations received by Mr. Mitsotakis include other MPs like Stratos Simopoulos, Christina Alexopoulou and Maximos Senetakis.
As Mr. Kyranakis’s successor, Arta MP Giorgos Stylios was discussed, whose name was recently strongly considered for the ruling party’s general secretary position. The strongest possibility, however, is moving Pavlos Marinakis to this post, with Akis Skertsos, Giorgos Kotsiras, Alexandra Sdoukou, and Theodoros Roussopoulos discussed as possible replacements for his government spokesman position in such a scenario.
However, changes aren’t expected to stop there. As a new addition to the government formation, Serres MP Tasos Chatzivassiliou is speculated for a Deputy Foreign Minister position, responsible for European affairs, with authority over preparing Greece’s European Union presidency in the second half of 2027. This would also send a “vindication” signal for MPs included in the European Prosecutor’s Office case sent to Parliament regarding OPEKEPE, who had their immunity lifted but ultimately had their cases archived. Another scenario on the table is moving Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos to the Maximos Mansion to strengthen the state apparatus core and the strategic planning team ahead of elections.
