Ruling ND fears couch syndrome

The stunning result of the first election last Sunday has already been recorded in electoral history, but ruling New Democracy is pursuing mild tones ahead of the next election on 25 June, sensing the lairs that could be set in its path by complacency. As a government official told Kathimerini, “the tone must be particularly low,” as “the ballot boxes have been emptied again and will be refilled on June 25.”

First, there is the danger that the rallying call to its base may be taken lightly. The result is so clear that there is a fear that a part of the electorate will think that the game is over and may move to another party or abstain in the second elections.

“The logic that [Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis has now definitely won should not prevail,” a government source told Kathimerini, sounding the alarm that there should be no letup. The fact that the second election will not have a cross and therefore MPs will not be chasing the cross is another reason for concern, as it is certain that the goal of an outright majority requires that those who cast their ballot in favor in ND on Sunday must show up again.

There is also the risk that all the political discussion will be transferred to the second party and the brewing battle on the center-left, and that ND's need for an outright majority will be somehow overshadowed. “Shifting the debate could be costly electorally,” the same source says, with ND wanting to keep the significance for Greece of a single-party government high on the agenda, ahead of the election. To this end, the party is already preparing for a communication barrage that will speak “even more clearly” about the day after and what the prime minister plans for the next four years.

Moreover, there is possibility of small parties entering Parliament. With a couple on the brink of crossing the 3% threshold in the June 25 election, then the bar for an outright majority could approach 39%.

If this is the case, and ND loses some of the power it gained on May 21, then an outright majority will not be a walk in the park, and may go to the wire.