It appears that Konstantinos Kyranakis’s move from the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport to the New Democracy party, as well as the vacancies that have arisen in specific positions within the government, are triggering a chain reaction of changes.
And while any decisions by the Prime Minister may be announced this coming Thursday, following the formal election of Mr. Kyranakis to the position of Secretary of the New Democracy Policy Committee, the speculation and scenarios about the day after have already begun to intensify, both inside and outside the Maximos Mansion.
One of these scenarios suggests that the government spokesperson, Pavlos Marinakis, will be moved after three years in that position to take on the key role of Deputy Minister of Transport.
In such a scenario, various names are being mentioned for the position of government spokesperson, including the experienced Theodoros Rousopoulos, Deputy Minister of Health Irini Agapidakis, and New Democracy spokesperson Alexandra Sdoukou.
The possibility remains open that Development Minister Takis Theodorikakos will move to the Maximos Mansion to bolster the Prime Minister’s staff—in terms of communications and beyond—during the demanding pre-election period that has effectively begun.
It is also considered certain that the Serres MP, Tassos Hatzivassiliou, is considered a certainty. Following his exoneration from the OPEKEPE case with the dismissal of his charges, he is expected to assume the role of Deputy Minister of European Affairs, in a newly created position and not, as previously thought, as a replacement for Alexandra Papadopoulou.
As for the vacant position of Deputy Minister of the Environment, as successor to the recently deceased Nikos Tagaras, various names are reportedly on the table, such as those of the MPs from Ioannina, Giorgos Amiras, Piraeus B, Giorgos Vrettakos; Pella’s Dionysis Stamenitis; Heraklion’s Maximos Senetakis; and Corinth’s Marilena Soukouli-Viliali.
A single ballot
Barring any surprises, these will be the last changes in the government before the elections, for which the party machinery is ramping up its efforts. The goal, as they reiterate at every opportunity at the Maximos Mansion, is a majority government, which they insist is achievable.
At the same time, they are strategically investing in the logic of a single ballot, in order to rally blue voters and attract—if possible—others from neighboring ideological camps and, above all, from the pool of undecided voters.
“I believe that on election night, since there is no second round in parliamentary elections, we must respect the people’s verdict and strive to ensure the country has a government,” the government spokesperson told SKAI, apparently—as he put it—“without cooperating with parties that want to bring back the rhetoric and logic of populism ‘above and below the square.’” And since the current PASOK, as the only potential partner with which New Democracy could cooperate, has emphatically rejected such a possibility, according to Mr. Marinakis, “based on the actual facts, a majority government is now the only way forward.”
However, another obstacle the New Democracy party faces at the polls appears to be the new party that Antonis Samaras has announced more clearly than ever before from Crete. The extent of the damage to the ruling party remains unknown, as the effort to undermine the former prime minister’s claims has already begun.
“Judging by the rhetoric and the predefined platform Mr. Samaras will be using, I believe that what he is saying is not aimed at the public—whether they have already declared they will vote for New Democracy or are considering doing so,” the government spokesperson noted.
As for the former prime minister’s characterization of Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Alexis Tsipras as “politicians of the marquee,” he assessed that it “lacks logic.”