Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will attempt to close as many political fronts as possible both within New Democracy and across the broader political landscape, while preparing the ground in the best way for the Thessaloniki announcements in the remaining time before his appearance in Greece’s co-capital for the International Fair. This occasion inevitably represents the culmination of the government’s political and communications counter-offensive, against the backdrop of the OPEKEPE case, the chaos that prevailed in Parliament during the preliminary investigation committee procedure, and the effort to remind that despite any shortcomings, the “blue” government remains, under current parliamentary conditions, the only path for maintaining stability and the country’s development prospects in this difficult international situation.
Internal fronts
Regarding the ruling party’s internal affairs, the activity observed recently with interventions by Kostas Karamanlis and Antonis Samaras, as well as Dimitris Avramopoulos’s involvement in the equation of criticism against the government’s foreign policy, combined with the OPEKEPE case and recent parliamentary events, created a climate of summer introspection, albeit seemingly temporary. This image was amplified after public statements by parliamentary members of the majority regarding the “blue” politician (from 2019, as she was cut from the 2023 ballots) and her husband, who proved to be subsidy champions, where there was open discussion about the need to adopt a more effective model for selecting candidates of the ruling party.
Political massage
In this context and to ensure the prime minister goes to the International Fair with a clear path ahead, it has been decided that from August 20th onwards, a series of initiatives will be undertaken by Maximos Mansion and Piraeus Street to identify and intercept any potential differentiation tendencies early, which could, under certain conditions, be an inhibiting factor for the Thessaloniki battle. Therefore, it is certain that in some cases there will be the traditional “massage” from the “blue” leadership, while it is an open secret that after what happened during the preliminary investigation procedure, ways are being sought for better management at parliamentary and intra-party levels, as well as in Maximos Mansion’s communication with MPs and New Democracy’s executive staff.
The constituencies
Moving forward on the road to the International Fair and the prime minister’s related tours, it is clear that the ground will be prepared for the “Vellidio” announcements with a clear focus on the middle class, specifically the social constituencies that have historically been New Democracy’s backbone and who, since the European elections, have been expecting a series of actions to improve their daily lives. For this reason, beyond pensioners and employees, freelance professionals have also been at the center of Maximos Mansion’s analyses, as it is an open secret that the “bundling” of the tax bill before the European elections largely nullified the sense of justice that was attempted to be cultivated toward other professional groups through the relevant government intervention. The obvious targeting of all interventions that Kyriakos Mitsotakis will announce will be, on one hand, restoring New Democracy’s relations with audiences traditionally considered privileged for it (and given the lack of alternative governance proposals, approaching them is still considered an achievable goal) and, on the other hand, reconfirming the sense that regardless of any failures and amateur handling of a series of critical issues, the current government has the ability to continue guaranteeing the advancement of relief measures for citizens. This is why, beyond other scenarios being examined, addressing high costs and continuous price increases will have a prominent place on his agenda. These pillars will also be the main balancing factor for the rhetoric the prime minister will develop, which, given his presence in Thessaloniki, will have political characteristics touching both the Center and the Right. After all, as time passes, and despite different assessments of the central strategy, it becomes common ground that the effort to adopt bilateral tactics is now an undeniable reality for the government.
Published in Parapolitika newspaper
