New Democracy officials, including party secretary Konstantinos Kyranakis (center) and friends of the party, held a rally outside the Ippokrateio Hospital in Thessaloniki where 70-year-old Vaya Nestora, mother of former party parliamentary candidate Afroditi, died. [InΤime News]
Officials in the ruling New Democracy party view the tragic death of 70-year-old Vaya Nestora, mother of former party parliamentary candidate Afroditi Nestora, in an arson attack in Thessaloniki early Wednesday, as an inflection point.
Authorities classify the attack as terrorism and are probing a possible involvement by anarchist groups; the police’s counterterrorism division is leading the investigation.
Leading conservative figures believe the event could push issues of law and order back to the forefront of the political agenda and cement support among the more right-wing voters of the party who appear disaffected by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ supposed centrism and could potentially defect to the several parties to the right of New Democracy.
On Thursday, New Democracy-friendly social media posted heavily about Wednesday’s crime, including the motto “Vaya Nestora did not die. She was murdered.” The party also organized a gathering outside Thessaloniki’s Ippokrateio hospital, where people injured in the attack that killed Nestora are still getting treatment.
