Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s announcement yesterday, during the main ERTNEWS bulletin, of the framework for supporting citizens in the face of high fuel prices and ahead of a difficult winter was not politically accidental. Given that all opinion polls identify high prices and the cost of living as citizens’ main concerns, the government sees a risk that the package announced at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) could lose its impact unless it intervenes effectively to bring prices down. This led to the announcement of direct intervention in the price of heating oil, an extension of the subsidy for diesel fuel, as well as the reintroduction of a cap on profit margins, through a joint initiative involving the country’s two refineries.

More broadly, however, Mr Mitsotakis also set out his political strategy ahead of the forthcoming political period. Insisting on the narrative of a single-party majority, Mr Mitsotakis stressed that New Democracy is currently the only party offering a governing alternative, given that all the other parties are competing over who will come second, while all are rejecting any possible alternative form of cooperation.

‘Only we have a government proposal capable of forming a government,’ Mr Mitsotakis said yesterday, while also bringing the credibility of his pledges into the equation, stressing that one in two citizens — regardless of whether they vote for New Democracy — believe that the pledges made at the TIF will be implemented. This is the so-called ‘credibility passport’ that Mr Mitsotakis has described on several occasions.

The findings of yesterday’s two opinion polls, by MARC for ANT1 and MRB for Open, also point in this direction, showing New Democracy with a wide lead over the other parties, with its share standing at around 30% in the vote estimate (31% in the MARC poll and 29% in the MRB poll). Meanwhile, the measures announced by Mr Mitsotakis at the TIF were viewed positively or rather positively by between 30% and 38% of respondents in the two surveys, exceeding New Democracy’s percentages in voting intention.

In any case, while seeking to dispel any sense of arrogance or ‘one-party rule’ on the part of New Democracy, Mr Mitsotakis is seeking to consolidate support among voters of the governing party, addressing to a considerable extent a familiar audience for him. He continues to argue that, in a turbulent environment, as demonstrated by the intensifying energy instability becoming visible in petrol station prices, there can be no question of the country being without a steady hand at the wheel.

PASOK and the…T-shirts

Of all Mr Mitsotakis’s references to the opposition, perhaps the sharpest was directed at PASOK. After reminding audiences that he had worked with PASOK figures, as well as with the party itself, as part of the Samaras-Venizelos coalition government, when he was Minister of Administrative Reform, Mr Mitsotakis launched an attack on Harilaou Trikoupi. ‘The only thing PASOK hasn’t done is bring out T-shirts saying “never with New Democracy”,’ the Prime Minister said, while making clear at the same time that there is no scope for New Democracy to enter into a post-election coalition with parties to its right, such as Kyriakos Velopoulos’s Greek Solution and Afroditi Latinopoulou’s Voice of Reason.

‘Radio silence’ on Samaras

In yesterday’s interview, Mr Mitsotakis also presented a new strategic approach towards Antonis Samaras’s party, which is currently taking shape, seeking to avoid turning the former prime minister into a political interlocutor. This was in stark contrast to the pointed ‘barb’ he directed at the TIF regarding the former prime minister’s expertise in bringing about the political decline of the party. ‘Whatever I had to say, I have said. Ask me again if Mr Samaras forms a party,’ was Mr Mitsotakis’s cryptic statement.

By contrast, in keeping with the tone of his TIF press conference, he spoke more warmly about Kostas Karamanlis, investing in an approach that ‘separates’ the two ‘former’ prime ministers. ‘I have a good personal relationship [with him], I respect the fact that he has chosen to distance himself from politics. At some point, chapters come to an end; I respect the fact that he does not wish to intervene in the way he did when he was an active politician,’ Mr Mitsotakis said, while also praising Mr Karamanlis’s understanding of critical national issues. ‘Mr Karamanlis is synonymous with New Democracy,’ the Prime Minister said pointedly.