The Prime Minister has begun to unfold the strategy for the first miles of the “marathon” to the ballot box — a term he himself has used to describe the informal but lengthy pre-election period. The first leg involves an account of the government’s work, which the Prime Minister’s office believes has not been fully conveyed to the public in its entirety. It is no coincidence that a condensed booklet summarizing all major reforms and projects across every sector, region, and municipality has already been prepared and distributed to government and party officials. “We made use of the Recovery Fund resources. We built 156 Health Centers across the country, like the one in Vari. We built more than 90 Emergency Departments in our hospitals,” was the message Kyriakos Mitsotakis chose to highlight during his visit to the Municipality of Vari-Voula-Vouliagmeni.
Closely tied to the first is the second leg of the strategy: building a relationship of trust with citizens, grounded in New Democracy’s track record of honoring the commitments it made ahead of the 2023 elections. “We didn’t make empty promises. You trusted us in 2023 and we presented you with a concrete plan for how Greece can move forward — how we can leave behind the era of major crises and build on the great successes of our first four years in office,” Mitsotakis said.
The third leg could be described in football terms as “keeping it low.” In other words, measured words and promises in a society that, according to all polls, is grappling with serious cost-of-living pressures and other everyday challenges. “We know very well what we have done. We know very well where there may be shortcomings. We don’t sweep problems under the rug. We know that we have staffing issues when it comes to nurses, which is why we have taken significant steps to make the nursing profession more attractive than it currently is. And we will continue to strive to constantly upgrade the National Health System, which has made very, very significant progress,” the Prime Minister noted, following a tour of the renovated facilities at the Vari Health Center. Speaking later to residents in Voula, and in keeping with the same tone, he added: “I know very well that the cost of living is hurting people today, and I know very well that a young couple renting a home is struggling because rents have risen significantly. But I cannot promise them things I cannot deliver the very next day.”
The fourth leg relates to defense and foreign policy. The government will consistently highlight the reinforcement of the Hellenic Air Force with new Rafale jets and the upgrade of F-16s to the Viper standard, as well as the incoming F-35s, the strengthening of the Hellenic Navy with Belharra frigates, progress on hydrocarbon extraction, and the swift aid dispatched to Cyprus within just a few hours.
The fifth leg concerns the political contrast that New Democracy intends to draw during the pre-election period — pitting its own policy proposals and overall program against those of the other parties, and particularly against Alexis Tsipras’ SYRIZA. Mitsotakis stated yesterday that “in today’s political competition, the voices that believe we can hand out money we don’t have have once again prevailed,” adding pointedly: “‘Freebie No. 1’ is competing with ‘Freebie No. 2,’ and ‘Freebie No. 3’ and ‘Freebie No. 4’ will follow. So I say to them: there’s no such thing as free anymore. Whoever promises you something for nothing — know that they will take it from you somewhere else. These are the same people who crushed the middle class with taxes.”
Also noteworthy was the closing of Mitsotakis’ address to residents in Voula, which made clear that the core electoral audience he wants to reach — and convince — are those who voted for New Democracy in 2019 and/or 2023 but have since distanced themselves from the ruling party for various reasons. In the months ahead, he will attempt to rebuild, as broadly as possible, what he called the wide social coalition that delivered New Democracy its lead and outright majority in the last two general elections. “I want to ask for your help — above all, to go and speak to those who, for whatever reason, may have their own grievances and frustrations, and to speak to them in plain language. After all, who can guarantee the country’s stability going forward? Do we want to experiment again with solutions that we tried in the past and that nearly drove us off a cliff? Or do we trust a government that may have made its mistakes, but there is absolutely no doubt has moved this country forward?” the Prime Minister said.
