In the political barometer of Public Issue, published in “Kathimerini” on November 13, 2011—just two days after Papandreou’s resignation—the most popular political leader, ahead of Alexis Tsipras and Antonis Samaras, was recorded as Giorgos Karatzaferis, then president of LAOS. Today, in several polls, Zoe Konstantopoulou—dubbed “Zoe of Tempi”—holds the top spot.

Six months later, in the May 2012 elections, Karatzaferis and his party were ousted from the political scene, leading to a “great exodus” of its members, including Kyriakos Velopoulos, who is also a key figure in the “era of Tempi.” LAOS was left with 2.9% of the vote, as its supporters were “stolen” by Golden Dawn, one of the emblematic parties of the bailout era, which eventually ended up in prison as a “criminal organization”.

In contrast, SYRIZA, the other emblematic party of the bailout years, governed for four and a half years with Alexis Tsipras as prime minister before his party dropped to sixth place—below even Zoe Konstantopoulou’s party, which has seen its polling numbers rise impressively since the mass demonstrations over the Tempi tragedy began. Will Ms. Konstantopoulou manage to transform Plefsi Eleftherias into the “party of Tempi”? Or will someone else fill the void? The MRB poll on Friday, which placed her second only to Kyriakos Mitsotakis as a preferred prime minister, answered with a tentative “maybe”—and now the government faces a dilemma: Will it turn things around or sink?

The Ill-Fated LAOS

In February 2012—11 years before the Tempi tragedy—the second bailout agreement was passed. Karatzaferis, who had supported the Papadimos government, refused to vote for it, famously declaring that the leaders of 1821 would not have agreed to such a deal. However, this did not save him politically—he ended up mocking Maria Karystianou on television as the “madame with the coiffure” to provoke reactions from X users.

During the bailout years, voters ranked politicians and political parties as the country’s third-biggest problem, after the economy and unemployment. In 2011-2012, the “Indignant” protesters dominated Syntagma Square.

Today, in the GPO poll conducted “in the heat of the moment” right after last Friday’s mass protests, more than 2 out of 3 respondents said the government had lost its popular legitimacy, while 2 out of 3 New Democracy voters acknowledged political responsibility for Tempi. MRB recorded that, after inflation, the most pressing issue for Greek society is the administration of justice. Are we returning to 2012, when New Democracy under Samaras fell to 18%? Or, as in every crisis he has faced so far, will Kyriakos Mitsotakis make a comeback?

Notably, all parties except Greek Solution and Plefsi Eleftherias have suffered polling losses recently. Even Aphrodite Latinopoulou’s Voice of Reason started losing ground after announcing that she would not personnaly participate in the Tempi demonstrations held across Greece and in various locations abroad with Greek communities.