Speaking at the neo-classical Rigillis Street building that had served as the conservative New Democracy party HQ for decades, ND party leader Evangelos Meimarakis send a message of unity calling for forces to be united so that the country could move forward.

The goal of the meeting was to unite and gather center right forces, however references to former Radical Left Coalition (SYRIZA) prime minister Alexis Tsipras were scant. “I will not even refer to the name of the former prime minister today,” he said. Nonetheless, he could not refrain from blaming Tsipras for creating “divisive dilemmas”.

He noted that his party wants to unite generations. “Progress doesn’t mean following everything new without knowing if it’s correct or not, neither does it mean doing experiments that end up with a 90-billion-euro bill,” he said.

Symbolism was rife throughout the event with ND Youth (ONNED) leader Sakis Ioannidis taking the podium without a tie during his prologue. Side by side the two leaders stood at the doorway of the historic building showing a return to the party’s old values and progress at the same time.

September 2-3 ND campaign trail:

Meimarakis heads to Crete on Wednesday to meet with local officials at Agios Nikolaos, while at 7.30 p.m. he will deliver a speech at Astoria cinema.

His next stop on Thursday will be at Heraklion, where he will meet with local authority officials and with members of productive bodies and local government officials in Rethymno and Chania.