“The mandate is clear: united, we must move forward with creative renewal and expansion, so that ND can soon become the great Center-Right force. The force that will provide a credible alternative for governing the country.” With these words exactly 10 years ago, on January 10 of the distant 2016, Kyriakos Mitsotakis set the tone for the next day of ND, after prevailing in the party’s internal elections against Vangelis Meimarakis, staging a comeback after the first round, in which he had finished second.

Ten years later, Mr. Mitsotakis is blowing out candles while serving his seventh year at the Maximos Mansion, with another year and a half remaining until the 2027 elections, in which he will seek a renewal of the popular mandate.

When Mr. Mitsotakis took over the reins of ND, the party was electorally wounded by its two defeats in 2015 to SYRIZA. Ten years later, ND continues to lead in the polls, having never lost its advantage since 2016, even if in the current period it is recording lower performances compared with the recent past. Today, on the occasion of the milestone of the tenth anniversary, Mr. Mitsotakis is returning to the ND offices in Moschato, where he relocated the party headquarters after moving out of the “salty,” due to rent, offices on Syngrou Avenue, where Mega is now housed. And after attending ND’s New Year’s cake-cutting event, Mr. Mitsotakis will take a walk around the neighborhood of the ruling party in Moschato.

The 2015 team

When Mr. Mitsotakis launched his campaign in 2015 for the presidency of ND, he had a carefully thought-out plan, but he was not the most popular figure among New Democracy supporters, despite the fact that he was easily elected first in the difficult Second Athens constituency. However, he managed to overtake Vangelis Meimarakis by bringing people from outside ND to the ballot box in the internal elections. This was a formula he continued afterward as party leader and as prime minister, making use of many figures mainly from the PASOK space. As a result, from time to time he has faced criticism about the “PASOK-ification” of ND, which has intensified especially over the past two years.

Going back to 2015, Mr. Mitsotakis’ team consisted of only a few people, and it was based in his office on Efthroniou Street in Pangrati. However, for the internal party elections he returned to his first office, on Halkokondyli Street, and held his personal meetings in Pangrati. Accompanying him on tours were usually two or three people: the current ND parliamentary spokesman Makarios Lazaridis, his adviser on party matters Thanasis Nezis, and occasionally the current director of the prime minister’s communications, Kyra Kapi. A central strategic role was played by Grigoris Dimitriadis, who remained behind the scenes and for many years was Mr. Mitsotakis’ “shadow,” both in opposition and at the Maximos Mansion. Based on Halkokondyli Street were former MP and current director of Mitsotakis’ office in Parliament Michalis Bekiris, as well as today’s Deputy Minister of the Interior Vasilis Spanakis. The team also included the current Deputy Minister of Transport Konstantinos Kyranakis and the current member of the Political Committee Elpidoforos Papanikolopoulos, while Mr. Mitsotakis’ representatives on the Central Electoral Supervisory Committee were former Secretary General for Research Tasos Gaitanis and Spyros Chrysophotis. In addition, Babis Siatras and Spyros Stathatos played roles in the party’s operational work, while the campaign also had a broad network of volunteers, mainly from the younger generation. A role was also played by the current Deputy Minister of Finance Nikos Papathanasis, who from the first day took on the role of ND’s general director and ran a program to rationalize the party’s finances.

The messages and the ideological identity

Returning to the present, Mr. Mitsotakis will certainly speak at ND’s cake-cutting event at the party headquarters and is expected to recall the conditions that prevailed in the country in 2016. He will also focus on the course of governance, with the thread beginning in 2019 and reaching as far as Greece in 2030. The prime minister will highlight key points, from major difficulties and crises to government initiatives that strengthened and fortified Greece in the economy, defense, health, education, and the rule of law, while at the same time supporting citizens and ensuring political stability. He will conclude by outlining his goals and vision for the coming years, expressing confidence that the best is yet to come.

Particular interest will also attach to the ideological identity of ND that he will present, emphasizing that today’s ND is very different compared with 2016, yet at the same time the same, in the sense that it remains a center-right, liberal, social, patriotic force. “We are today the main constant of the country’s political system. We are the only major party,” he is expected to say, adding that ND is not the same today as it was ten years ago, as it has evolved, adapted, renewed, and expanded.