It is an open secret among those familiar with the inner workings of the Maximos Mansion that, against the backdrop of the difficult situation the government finds itself in following the OPEKEPE scandal and everything that preceded it in recent months, some advisors and associates of Kyriakos Mitsotakis are urging him to do what he has essentially refused to do for years – something that even those who closely followed his political journey found difficult to explain. They want him to extend, even now, a sincere and direct “hand of friendship” to both Antonis Samaras and Kostas Karamanlis, naturally in a way that wouldn’t appear as a desperate move.
What supporters of Mitsotakis’ “opening” to Karamanlis and Samaras argue
“Even if it’s too late and even if rumors about Samaras establishing a new political party are confirmed, at least Mitsotakis should demonstrate that he did everything possible to keep the faction united,” emphasize supporters of this logic in their private discussions. The reality is universally acknowledged: if such a party is indeed established and participates in elections, whatever percentage it receives will clearly come from New Democracy, since the so-called anti-establishment right has already chosen a different direction (and has been doing so for years). As for Karamanlis? First, he is a figure of significant symbolic importance who never used the harsh expressions that Antonis Samaras employed in his rhetoric, with his criticism being much more measured. Therefore, there is no reason not to approach a chronically popular former prime minister within center-right circles (especially when unity is a central priority for Maximos Mansion during this period).
Moreover, in case of a party establishment by Antonis Samaras, such an alliance would be pivotal. Even if the psychological distance separating the former prime minister from today’s blue leadership continued to exist, it would at least represent an indication of effort to maintain factional cohesion and unity, while somehow “binding” Karamanlis to put a brake on government criticism from figures in his immediate political environment. After all, it is now common acknowledgment that the comment about stagnation in foreign policy during the 2004-2009 period due to a negative post by Mr. Valinakis regarding Greek diplomacy’s handling, and thanks to some people’s permanent obsession with the need to distance from the past targeting the political center, proved desperately wrong.
This particular voter base should naturally constitute a basic priority. However, as all experts now acknowledge and quite a few within the governing party now embrace, it votes steadily based on daily life perceptions and expectations for its improvement, with New Democracy’s internal affairs being a negligible factor in the final choice at the ballot box. The “original” New Democrat, however, had, has, and will always have sentiment for the faction’s past, as this was what kept him proud even during the difficult years of post-transition history.
