It is very likely that the Conservatives will again take power alone in Athens on Sunday. Is the country threatened with an “uncontrollable regime” or even “autocracy”, as many on the left warn?
The Greek word “autocracy” is currently experiencing a renaissance. Leftists in Greece and across Europe are swearing by it ahead of Sunday’s Greek general election. It describes “unrestricted state power in the hands of a single ruler”, in this case the previous head of government, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. And it’s a bad word, especially in the country that still prides itself on having invented democracy 2,500 years ago. So what’s up with the supposedly looming autocracy in Greece?
After a first term in office from 2019, Mitsotakis and his conservative Nea Dimokratia (ND) party won 41 percent in the parliamentary elections five weeks ago. However, there was no coalition and therefore no government – the conservatives didn’t want to, the left couldn’t. Now the Greeks are voting again, and Mitsotakis’ sole power is very likely.
A new form of noiseless populism?
“Elect us so that we can fight against an unbridled Mitsotakis regime!” appealed to Alexis Tsipras, head of the Left Party and the strongest opposition force, Syriza, in the current election campaign. Mitsotakis is striving for a “weakening, sick, unstable democracy” of the type of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In Germany, some observers saw it similarly. According to the media, Greece is on the way to autocracy under Mitsotakis. Others assessed Mitsotakis’ style as a new form of silent populism. In view of the devastating boat accident with hundreds of dead migrants, he was even credited with experience in denying allegations and complicity in the accident.
In fact, the past term of office of the Conservatives has by no means been crowned only with glory. So Mitsotakis let the secret service (EYP) report directly. A nephew of the prime minister became the coordinator. A serious scandal later followed, because the secret service not only had journalists and opposition politicians bugged, but even their own chief of staff. Mitsotakis stated that he did not know anything about it, fired his nephew and has since referred to the judiciary’s processing of the affair.
Polls predict clear victory for the Conservatives?
But even that did not detract from the success of the conservatives – just as little as the accusation of “Orbanization” and Tsipras’ blaming Mitsotakis for the serious train accident in February that killed 57 people in central Greece. Polls again predict a result of more than 40 percent of the votes for New Democracy. Due to a peculiarity in the electoral law, that would be enough for an absolute majority, because in the current elections the strongest party will automatically be given at least 20 seats in the 300-strong parliament.
Is Greek society “backward”, does it choose “standstill, inertia and rigidity”, as the Berlin “taz” quoted the Athenian political scientist Lefteris Kousoulis at the end of May? Basically an insult to the voters, which Tsipras didn’t shy away from when he said after the recent election defeat that the people “didn’t understand”.
Observers accuse Syriza of “toxic campaigning.”
Greek observers see it differently: The fact that Tsipras and his Syriza failed in the last elections – the party dropped by 11 percentage points to 20 percent – they have to blame themselves, they say. The media and citizens subsequently criticized a “toxic election campaign” because Tsipras offered hardly any program but constantly pounded on the government. Many of Syriza’s campaign promises, such as higher pensions and minimum wages, had already been turned into reality by the conservatives before the elections. Other left-wing monetary incentives were viewed with suspicion by voters because Syriza never explained how they would be funded.
The main reason why many Greeks are voting for Mitsotakis is the government’s success in recent years, which is far greater than the continuous fire of the opposition would have us believe. Mitsotakis brought the country enormously forward economically, socially and foreign policy. Unemployment fell from around 19 to currently a good 11 percent. The state has been massively reduced in bureaucracy and digitized: Many administrative procedures can now be completed online in just a few minutes, including the former paperwork for the sale of a property or a divorce. At the same time, the government lowered corporate taxes. As a result, international companies such as Microsoft, Google and Pfizer discovered the country and are investing heavily.
Mitsotakis reduced refugee numbers
Many voters also give Mitsotakis credit for the government’s crackdown on strict border controls and reducing the number of refugees. Islands like Lesvos and Samos have been in a state of emergency for years because of the refugee crisis – citizens there can now live normally again, they say.
The government has always contradicted accusations from international media that Greece is carrying out pushbacks, i.e. pushing migrants back to Turkey without granting them an application for asylum. However, it is now undisputed that there were pushbacks. At the same time, the number of proven pushbacks bears no comparison to the tens of thousands of people who have been rescued by Greek border guards in recent years.
So what do the Greeks choose? In any case, according to their understanding, no autocracy, but quite rational stability and progress, as they have largely been implemented by the conservatives in the last four years. “Now let’s get the elections done quickly so that he can continue,” says many pubs and cafés about Mitsotakis and his course.