Maria Karystianou’s Hope for Democracy party is showing signs of weakening but remains politically relevant, according to polling data and analysts, despite a series of high-profile departures and the absence of a formal party structure, leadership team, policy platform or press office.
Yiannis Konstantinidis, associate professor of electoral behavior at the University of Macedonia, said opinion polls recorded a roughly 50% decline in voting intention for the party between late May and late July. He said support among left-wing and centrist voters has fallen by nearly 70% from May levels, while losses among right-wing and far-right voters have been more limited.
Konstantinidis said Karystianou’s positions on selected issues appeared to distance parts of the left and center, where the party initially polled above 12% to 15%. In Pulse’s vote estimate, the party stood at 11% in May and 8.5% in July.
The average of late-July polls placed its support at about 8%, making it the strongest party among those competing for fourth through seventh place and leaving open the prospect of parliamentary representation.
Data analyst Giorgos Trapalis said the party reflects “the difficulty of a social movement evolving into a political party.” He said the initiative remained focused on a single issue, failed to develop a broader agenda and gradually lost its cross-party appeal.
