Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has urged New Democracy to prepare for a difficult general election in the spring of 2027, telling members the party must admit its mistakes as well as defend its record.

Mitsotakis was speaking at an event on Monday marking 52 years since the centre-right party was founded in 1974, the year Greece returned to democracy. It was held at the former depot of the OSY bus company, at the junction of Piraeus and Ermou streets in central Athens.

Greece must hold a general election by July 2027, and Mitsotakis has said repeatedly that it will take place in the spring. New Democracy has been in government since 2019 and was re-elected in 2023.

“We have another difficult election ahead of us,” he said. He expressed “absolute confidence” in the party and in the judgement of voters, who, he said, “judge and compare” and understand that New Democracy is “the only political force that can guarantee both stability and change at the same time”.

“The waters are very choppy”

Mitsotakis said the country faced a turbulent period, and used the image of a captain and crew to make his point.

“The waters are very choppy and may become even choppier,” he said. In such conditions, the country needed “a good captain and above all a good crew and a good ship”. Turning to party officials and members, he added: “And you are the crew.”

He said the party had until the election to explain its plan to voters and to talk about what it had achieved, “but at the same time, with courage, to acknowledge our mistakes”.

“You are New Democracy, the heart and soul of the party”

Opening his speech, Mitsotakis asked those present to think back over their own personal journey with the party. “You are New Democracy, the heart and soul of the party,” he said.

He said he was particularly moved to see veteran campaigners still holding flags from the party’s battles under his late father, former prime minister Konstantinos Mitsotakis.

“Four times we won successive elections with more than 40%”

Mitsotakis ran through the party’s electoral history, noting four periods in which it had won back-to-back elections with more than 40% of the vote. The first came under party founder Konstantinos Karamanlis, the second in the three elections held in 1989 and 1990 under his father, and the third under former prime minister Kostas Karamanlis in 2004 and 2007.

“And we managed it too, all of us together,” he said. “And we will do it again.”

The party’s youth wing and non-state universities

Speaking about the party’s ability to adapt and renew itself, Mitsotakis cited a question from the anniversary quiz about its youth wing, ONNED: when did it first propose the creation of non-state universities as official party policy? The answer, he said, was 1987, “long before you were born”, and the youth wing “was always looking ahead”.

His government passed a law in 2024 allowing branches of foreign universities to operate in Greece, with the first starting work in the 2025-26 academic year.

New Democracy, he said, had been able to turn political stability into a force for change. The party must keep renewing itself and look at the present and the future “not through the spectacles of the past”. That, he added, was its great strength and would allow it to win back the trust of Greeks.

“Greece today is a model to follow”

Turning to the economy, Mitsotakis described a country whose economy was growing quickly, where unemployment had fallen to 7.4%, and which could now support households out of the surplus generated by growth. The jobless rate is the lowest in 25 years, according to figures published last week.

Comparing the present with the years of the debt crisis, he said Greece was now “a model to follow”. He then added a political barb without naming anyone: “We fought to leave the dark days behind us. We will not succumb to the delusions of certain populists, who may have changed their clothes.”

He said the progress made must not be put at risk “for anyone” and that the country would not go backwards by yielding to populist delusions.

He said the party’s ability to move “beyond and above the labels of Right, Centre and Left”, a reference to the declaration issued by its founder, was what allowed it to remain “a deeply social, popular party”.

“With courage, let’s acknowledge the mistakes we made”

On the road to 2027, Mitsotakis said the party should not limit itself to a record of what the government had done, but should also address what it had not done right.

“Let us explain our plan for Greece in 2030,” he said. “Let us talk about what we have achieved, but also, with courage, acknowledge the mistakes we made.”

He sent a message to the government and the party ranks alike. “The longer we remain in power, the harder we must fight to win the trust of citizens,” he said. “The more modest and humble we must be.”

“We will do it again in 2027”

Closing his speech, Mitsotakis told members to prepare for the contest ahead. “Gather strength for the battle to come,” he said. It would be “another fine battle”, he added, to prove wrong once again those who believe the party cannot reach the goal it has set.

“We did it in 2019, we did it in 2023 with your help and with the trust of Greek society, and we will do it again in 2027,” he concluded.

Photos: William Faithful