The PASOK conference concluded with the New Democracy conference due to follow, bringing the cycle of pre-election conferences to a close.
Even the most skeptical among us can see that we are entering the final phase of the government’s four-year term. From now on, it’s all to play for.
Sure, no party conference has ever won an election. Nor has any election been decided by a party conference.
All the more so as the polls have yet to show any significant shifts.
The ‘old parties’ are wearisome but keep plodding on, while the ‘new parties’ that are coming into being or still nothing more than promises are hardly firing up the electorate, even when they actually have something to say. The ‘radical Left’ is imploding—nothing more or less.
Under these circumstances, nothing seems to be a foregone conclusion. All the more so when even the old certainties about how one or the other will perform have been called into question.
Par for the course. After all, in Greece, we have a long-standing tradition of proclaiming election results well before the elections have even taken place. Only to see them disproved later.
The only certainty is that the government will have to deal with the international uncertainty and its repercussions, while the opposition will seek to capitalize on various ‘scandals’ dogging the government.
But the ‘big issue’ that will decide the outcome has yet to come into sight. Obviously, in the scheme of things, it’s no big deal whether Mitsotakis secures a third four-year term, or whether Androulakis manages to neutralize the challenge from Doukas.
It isn’t even clear how issues that seem to concern the public, such as inflation, will impact on the results.
There is, however, one thing we can be absolutely sure about: none of the parties want to cooperate with anyone else.
And that isn’t good for our democracy. Because, while it may not give rise to insuperable problems under normal circumstances, it can only lead to disaster in a crisis. It is no coincidence that only two (!) parties agreed to be briefed on the war in Iran by the Prime Minister.
None of which provides grounds for hoping for a calm and constructive election period. All the more so, since most political camps are riven by internal conflict and instability.
Apparently, there have been suggestions that Mitsotakis move the election dates forward. But for the time being, they do not seem to have given the Prime Minister pause for thought.
All the more so, given that he still has his working parliamentary majority and the opposition is failing to exert any serious political pressure.
What does that leave? “Events, dear boy, events!”
