Greek vote: can Nea Dimokratia put things right?
Greece looks set for a change of government in Sunday's snap election. While polls put the approval rate of Kyriakos Mitsotakis's conservative Nea Dimokratia at 38 percent, Tsipras's Syriza has slipped to just 24 percent. Although Nea Dimokratia is widely blamed for the Greek crisis, voters and commentators are pinning their hopes on the party once more.
Moderate reformer is Greece's chance
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung pins its hopes on the Nea Demokratia candidate:
“Kyriakos Mitsotakis is a serious and at the same time moderate reformer who wants to do all he can to restore Greece's possibilities for growth. This perspective sounds credible. Mitsotakis doesn't belong to the wasteful, client-oriented section of conservative Nea Dimokratia that was in power from 2004 to 2009, which led the country towards economic disaster with its irresponsible budget policy. ... To keep his supporters in line he must quickly begin with the tax cuts without there being the financial leeway for them at this stage. After his expected election victory he therefore won't have much time left to generate sustainable growth with low-cost reforms. This is Greece's chance.”
Santa Claus is not what the country needs
Mitsotakis is raising false hopes, Kathimerini writes:
“Like a midsummer Santa, the ND chief has vowed to slash taxes, not to fire anyone and not to cut any benefits. He only brings good news: Greece will simply take off after his victory, investments will come thick and fast, and foreigners will bring their money to the new Eldorado, expanding growth at a pace similar to China. This is one of the biggest challenges that Mitsotakis will have to face after the vote. The huge expectations among voters about an ND government combined with popular anger at Syriza's miserable administration. The sooner he manages to reconcile Greeks with the tough reality, the fewer the problems his administration will have to face.”
Tsipras has already tossed in the towel
For Trud's Greece correspondent Boyka Atanasova, all the excitement has gone in the run-up to the election:
“All the polls confirm that Syriza won't be able to close the nine percentage point gap between it and Nea Dimokratia. On the contrary, it can't be ruled out that Nea Demokratia will increase its lead. Kyriakos Mitsotakis is already acting like he's prime minister, while Alexis Tsipras has clearly lost his fighting spirit and lapsed into the sad role of an opposition leader. The only question now is whether Mitsotakis will secure enough seats to govern alone or whether he'll have to seek out a smaller party as a coalition partner.”
The rich are swimming with the tide
The upper middle classes are the key to success in these elections, political scientist Stephanos Konstantinidis writes in Phileleftheros:
“Syriza has lost the middle class, which was hard hit by the austerity memorandum. And failing a last-minute change of heart on the part of these voters the party will lose the elections. At the same time Syriza has also lost many conservative supporters who flirted with the party when it was in power. Syriza's grassroots support comes from the poorer working classes, poorly paid workers in the public and private sectors, employees and pensioners who get by on a shoestring. It's to be expected that a Nea Dimokratia government will favour the wealthy classes, while the less privileged are further sidelined.”
Conservatives finally staging a comeback
Le Point is delighted that the conservatives look set to return to power:
“Nothing is better for governing a country than cosmopolitan elites. The Greeks are now rediscovering this truth four years after entrusting their fate to the left-wing populist Alexis Tsipras. If the Greek right regains power in the upcoming legislative elections on July 7, as everything seems to indicate, it will be the first time that an EU country governed by populists makes the transition back to a traditional ruling party. ... Populist clamour alone isn't enough to raise salaries and pensions. For that you need a sound economy which creates and distributes wealth. Mitsotákis and his party are best placed to deliver this.”