Greece political briefing: The defeat of the main opposition party SYRIZA in the national election..

Posted on by Peter

Weekly Briefing, Vol. 63. No. 1 (GR) June 2023

 

The defeat of the main opposition party SYRIZA in the national election and its attempt for transformation

 

 

Summary

The briefing presents the recent debate held among the political leaders of the parties in the parliament in the onset of the upcoming legislative elections. The six candidates had the chance to present the positions of their parties to the public. However, the tight rules of the debate did not leave room for a lively dialogue. Questions of the electoral body remain unanswered. Thus, only the results of the elections will clear the picture and reveal the political future of the country.

 

Introduction

The Greek political sphere intensively prepares for the upcoming elections, to be held on the 21st of May. The political debate, which took place eleven days before the voting process, was highly anticipated from the public. However, the debate did not suggest any clear winners. The political leaders did not take risks and stayed more or less within the framework of the already known narratives. The answers of the prime minister on the phone tapping scandal were mainly the highlight of the debate. The toxic political climate and the difficulty of the parties to form a coalition government were underlined once again and the complex political puzzle remains unsolved. One thing is for sure, that the upcoming elections will be crucial for the political stability of the country.

 

Background

On the 10th of May a public political debate was conducted by the National Television, the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation (ERT), channels and it was transmitted by six private television stations. The last political debate was conducted eight years ago, before the elections of 2015. Thus, the debate was an event of a great importance for the political and public sphere in Greece. All the six leaders of the current parties in the parliament were participating in the debate. Specifically, the leader of the ruling party ND and current Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitrsotakis, the leader of the major opposition party SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the third party in the parliament the socialist PASOK, Nikos Androulakis, the Secretary General of Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Dimitris Koutsoumpas, the leader of Greek Solution, Kyriakos Velopoulos and the leader of MeRA25, Secretary Yanis Varoufakis. It should be mentioned that six anchors from each of the six television stations with the highest reputation in Greece were posing the questions to the candidates. The journalist George Kouvaras from ERT was the coordinator of the discussion.

The telecast lasted approximately three hours, and the participants elaborated on questions based upon sixdifferent themes: economy and employment; foreign policy and defensce; state institutions and transparency; health, education and the welfare state; the environment and energy, and the issues of the younger generation. The specific questions and the rules of the debate were set by a cross-party commission, despite the request of the journalists participating to raise their own questions. The cross-party committee also decided that each question would be set within 30 seconds and the answers of the political leaders up to 1.5 minutes with a follow up from 15 seconds up to 45 minutes, with a total duration of 3 minutes. The recent debate acquired 53,8% viewing in total, which was lesser than the 68,7% figure of the debate in 2015 (1).

The strict rules of the debate were heavily criticized from the journalists and the public sphere. Under this very tight framework, the vital role of the journalist during the process was downgraded. In addition, the time duration was very limited and any interaction among the candidates and the journalists was almost nonexistent. Thus, the highly anticipated debate did not get the form of a dialogue rather than disconnected monologues. However, it should be mentioned that previous political debates also had strict rules and did not enable the candidates to engage in a productive dialogue. Since 1990, eight debates had been conducted, with most of them been among all the leaders of the political parties. Only in few exceptions a face-to-face debate between the leader of the ruling party and the leader of the main opposition took place (2). The large number of candidates participating in a debate on the one hand enables more political figures to present their positions in public but on the other hand does not allow enough room for an in-depth political discussion. The leader of SYRIZA Alexis Tsipras had requested for a face-to-face debate with PM Mitsotakis.  Concerning this request, the PM stated that since the upcoming elections are held under the simple proportional electoral system all the parties need to equally participate in the debate. He further stated that in case second elections will take place, under the bonus system, then a face-to-face debate with Tsipras needs to take place, and consequently he will participate in such a debate (3). Hence, it is expected that in case of a second round of elections the two political leaders will participate to a second debate, this time under a different set up.

 

The highlights of the debate

During the debate, the party leaders had the chance to present their views and party agendas in the six critical categories, as mentioned above. More or less, there were no surprises in the answers of the candidates. Mitsotakis, through his answers, emphasized the achievements of his government in the economy and defense sectors as well as the welfare state. In addition, he had the advantage of presenting a more cohesive plan for the future (4). However, promising that in case he is elected, he will extend the market pass as well as other support measures, contradicted his narrative of a flourished economic development and economic liberalism. In addition, due to the tight fiscal budget, the answers concerned seemed to be more a pre-election promise than an active strategy (5).

The leader of SYRIZA aimed to turn the debate to a face to face “telefight” with Mitsotakis and partially he achieved it. His answers focused on criticizing most of the decisions taken by the government, as well as Mitsotakis himself. Of course, being the leader of the main opposition party, such discourse was expected. In addition, in the sector of economy he mainly highlighted the high cost of living and the difficulties of the Greeks to financially support their households. He also stressed, that this condition is based on a system of big companies profiteering and criticised the government for turning the blind eye. Concerning the policies of the government in the defence sector, Tsipras argued that defending the Greek boarders is important, but he stressed that the defence projects needs to be brought back to Greece (4).

The answers of the leader of PASOK were highly anticipated both by the political and public sphere. It is the first time that Androulakis participated in a public debate. In addition, due to the electoral system of simple proportional representation which shall apply to the upcoming elections, and the need of a coalition partner in order for a government to be formed, PASOK has become a key player. Thus, both ND and SYRIZA would positively anticipate a cooperation with PASOK for forming a coalition government. However, Androulakis did not openly declared whether he is planning to cooperate with either party and took equal distances during the debate. The leader of PASOK, as Tsipras, also criticised the current PM and the government, especially on the democratic operation of institutions. The leader of PASOK stated in several instances that the country needs to harmonise its policies with the EU (4).

The General Secretary of the communist party KKE stated that he will not participate in a coalition government with none of the three biggest parties. He further presented the positions of his party. The leader of the nationalist party Greek Solution also declared that he will not proceed to a coalition with another party. The leader of Mera25, stressed that the other parties have closed any window of opportunity for forming a collation, despite the calls of his party to other leaders for cooperation in the upcoming elections.

The answers of the political leaders on the phone tapping scandal that burdens the current government, and the PM personally, were the highlight of the debate. Mitsotakis admitted that the scandal is a shadow over his government. He stated that he took the political responsibility for the surveillance case, and that he submitted the case to justice. He also mentioned that the answers given on the tapping of the head of the Greek Armed Forces, a political leader (Androulakis) and active ministers were not adequate. Mitsotakis specifically stated “Mr. Androulakis does not comprise any kind of danger for the security of Greece, and should not be under surveillance”. It should be mentioned that for the first time Mitsotakis stated that there was not any legitimate reason for the tapping of the phone of Androulakis, since prior to the debate he was denying giving any explanations. Thus, Tsipras, took the chance during the debate to push the PM for explanations and questioned “how I could collaborate with Androulakis tomorrow if he is truly an ‘agent’ and ‘a national threat’.” Androulakis on his side stated that he demanded for justice and the ones that are involved to the case to go to prison. This last phrase was highly discussed in the media following the debate, since it implied that the PM needs to be brought to justice for the surveillance case (6).

 

Conclusion

Despite the fact that the political debate did not add much to the existing knowledge of the electoral body, it raised many issues concerning the political and public sphere in Greece. The phone tapping scandal and questions for the function of democratic institutions of the country prevailed in the media. Additionally, the downgrade of the role of journalists during the debate process was highly discussed the following days. Most importantly, concerning the political reality of the country, the debate underlined the political dead end and the difficulties of the parties to communicate and eventually to cooperate in order to form a coalition government. Political stability needs to be a priority for all the parties for the future prosperity of the country.

 

References

TA NEA (2023) «Υποκλοπές: Η φράση – βόμβα Ανδρουλάκη για φυλακές ανοίγει παράθυρο για Ειδικό Δικαστήριο» Available in Greek at https://www.tanea.gr/2023/05/11/politics/ypoklopes-i-frasi-vomva-androulaki-gia-fylakes-anoigei-parathyro-gia-eidiko-dikastirio/