With the time remaining until the European elections being about 3 months, Kyriakos Mitsotakis puts New Democracy in a state of increased readiness, knowing that even the most experienced electoral mechanism needs some time to reach the maximum of its operation.
The prime minister has systematised his contacts for the formation of the blue Eurocandidate list, which is expected to be presented by mid-April, while progressively he will increasingly go out on the street, “warming up” the party public, as he did with his presence at the National Conference of the “DAP” (Democratic Renewal Initiative – New Democracy Student Movement), but also in Aspropyrgos on Saturday.
And he is already setting the dilemmas of the European elections, given that, as his colleagues estimate, slowly and slowly the citizens will start to re-enter the atmosphere of a new ballot after the…overdose of 2023.
Already, on the road to the European ballot, ND (New Democracy) has two important milestones ahead of it. On April 5, the ND position conference will open its work with a speech by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, while on Monday, March 11, Kyriakos Mitsotakis will speak at the corresponding ND pre-conference in Thessaloniki.
These days the persons who will run the April congress are also being “locked”, as the president and members of the Organising Committee will be appointed, with former minister and EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos considered a favourite.
At the same time, the Election Committee is also expected to be announced, and it is not unlikely that it will again be headed by Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Bratakos.
Mitsotakis is already posing dilemmas for citizens, while he has begun to systematise his firing at the opposition parties.
At the same time, he will de facto enter an election environment this week, as he travels to Bucharest, where the European People’s Party congress will take place, which will formally endorse the current Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for a second term.
On Wednesday evening, Mitsotakis will attend the dinner of the leaders of the European centre-right on Wednesday evening and will address the plenary session of the conference at noon on Thursday.
The local government election rehearsal
However, the weekend brought “smiles” to the New Democracy camp, after the comfortable victory of the party’s “chosen one” Lazaros Kyrizoglou in the elections of the Central Union of Municipalities of Greece with 66% against the mayor of Athens Harris Doukas who did not collect 30%.
Kyrizoglou won with 348 votes and disproved even the most optimistic estimates in the blue staff, where several meetings were held in recent days to coordinate his candidacy.
“When the Southwest unites, the result is always what it should be,” a close associate of the prime minister said, given that Kyrizoglou had mayors on his side who were considering running for the presidency, such as Grigoris Konstantellos or Giorgos Papanastasiou from Agrinio.
In the Southwest, there is satisfaction with the electoral “rehearsal”, which was extensively discussed by the Prime Minister’s advisor Thanasis Nezis, the secretary of the Southwest Maria Syrengela and the Secretary of Local Government Dionysis Hadjidakis.
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At the same time, the Southwest is also satisfied with the result in the Union of Regions, where the “rebel” regional governors from the Southwest supported Apostolos Tzitzikosta, but also with the results in the Regional Associations of Municipalities, as only those of Crete, Western Greece and Epirus were “lost”, even if only marginally.
The names of the European candidate list
In the context of the election preparations, the contacts in the blue camp for the ND’s European candidate list are intensifying. On Friday, Kyriakos Mitsotakis met with Vangelis Meimarakis, while current MEPs such as Anna Michelle Asimakopoulou, Elisa Vozenberg and Stelios Kymouropoulos have already started touring.
Maria Spyraki, after being cleared by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, is awaiting Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ decisions on her person, while she was included in the list of the most influential MEPs on environmental issues.
Manolis Kefalogiannis is awaiting an appointment with the prime minister, if the prospect of being a candidate again has been clouded recently.
Pyrros Dimas, Vassilis Kontozamanis, Giorgos Avtias, Dimitris Tsiodras and Evi Christofilopoulou are already making moves and campaign tours, while the next period will “lock” whether the blue euro-nomination will include the Olympic champion Voula Patoulidou, the Paralympian Antonis Tsapatakis, the also Olympic champion Nikos Kaklamanakis and the police trade unionist George Kaliakmanis.
In the background, the name Konstantinos Floros is also being mentioned, although he says to his interlocutors that he is currently private at this stage. In any case, however, persons from the right-wing spectrum will also be sought, given the need for such “injections”.
