On the need for a government by the evening of the first Sunday of the national elections, the Maximos Mansion is now strategically investing, attempting to frame a clear political dilemma for citizens early on: that of stability versus prolonged political deadlock.Authoritative sources insist that the country cannot withstand a long pre-election periodor successive elections, especially in an international environment of geopolitical and economic uncertainty. In this context, given the poll findings that show New Democracy as the only viable governing force, the party will seek to convey a message of self-sufficiency; otherwise, it will have to exhaust all possibilities for forming a government from the first round of voting.
The prime minister’s staff believes that developments objectively lead to a central question: which political force can guarantee governmental stability the day after the election.
As they point out, New Democracy is the only party claiming a clear mandate to govern, while at the same time they remind us that PASOK — which theoretically could be a potential partner in the event of no single party securing a majority — has already publicly ruled out the possibility of cooperation with the current ruling party.
In this light, party officials believe that securing a strong governing majority is essentially the “only way forward” to prevent the country from entering a period of uncertainty and successive elections.
This stance was also reflected in yesterday’s statement by government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis (in Proto Thema), in which he argued that on the night of the national elections, “the country must have a government.”
The Maximos Mansion emphasizes that “the prime minister is elected by the citizens and not through closed-door consultations,” attempting to portray the opposition’s stance on post-election cooperation as politically ambiguous.
Vote of indifference
At the same time, they believe that the key challenge for the coming period will be to prevent the “casual vote” or the “protest vote,” which traditionally occurs in elections with less political pressure, such as the European elections.
As they note, “the stakes in national elections are entirely different,” emphasizing that in these elections, citizens are called upon to decide who will govern the country and not merely to express potential political dissatisfaction, which has little impact on political affairs, particularly at the local level.
The government considers the first-round results to be critical, assessing that the higher the New Democracy party’s electoral performance, the stronger its starting point will be for achieving a majority, should a new election process be required due to the inability to form a government.
In the coming days, the prime minister’s staff is expected to intensify pressure on opposition parties to clarify their position regarding the post-election period, pending new announcements from Maria Karistianou today, Alexis Tsipras on Tuesday, and possibly Antonis Samaras later.
During his meeting with the President of the Republic, Kyriakos Mitsotakis reiterated that there is one year remaining until the constitutional completion of the government’s term and emphasized that “the realignment of the political landscape does not concern us.”
The government’s focus, as he said, remains on implementing its agenda, and “every month counts,” sending a message to cabinet members to continue the work they have undertaken without interruption. This is something he will also emphasize to them at next week’s cabinet meeting.