The ruling New Democracy party will aim for a third term in the next national election, at the same time avoiding having to take part in a coalition government. That much was obvious from the speeches at the party’s 16th congress, which ended Sunday.
With opinion polls thus far showing a parliamentary majority nearly impossible to attain, the question is, which voters should the party try to attract in order to achieve its aims?
Opinion polls show that nearly a sixth of the voters who chose New Democracy in the double election of May-June 2023 are, at best, very skeptical about voting for the party again, but most are sitting on the sidelines rather than drifting to other parties either to the right or the left.
If this group were to rally again to New Democracy, it would mean an additional 5.7 to 6.6 percentage points in the election, top party officials say.
Needless to say, this block of voters to be wooed is not a solid one. The focus groups studied by party officials show four distinct “tribes.” In order of importance, they are those who consider that the government lost its reformist zeal; those who have decided that corruption has been allowed, willingly or not, to fester; a group of true conservative believers who think that, under the leadership of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the party has drifted too far toward the center; and a fourth that accuses government officials of arrogance.
