The two candidates for the head of ND appear to be representatives of two different schools of thought. V.Meimarakis is the older of the two, having risen from the party's youth organization he claims that he is from the “heart” of the party. His personal history proves him right; he has never acted as anything outside the party and all the political positions he has ever held were all the result of direct appointments whenever his party was in power. During his campaign he has chosen to follow a traditional rhetoric, obviously believing that his main advantage is not so much that he belongs in ND but that he “is” the heart and soul of ND.
Mr.Mitsotakis has also been a member of the party during his entire political life; his family has had a more tumultuous relationship with this very party but it would be wrong to consider him as anything but an ND political entity. He has chosen to play up his more youthful appearance as well as the fact that he is a true right wing politician -with the necessary neoliberal adaptations that seem to be necessary in today's political spectrum.
As their campaign comes to its' end, both candidates feel the need to “toughen” their rhetoric towards the government in an effort to show that they will be the ones who will make a difference. They both try to convey that they will not participate in a coalition government should the SYRIZA/ANEL coalition stumble in their effort to pass the new legislation.
What is missing are heavy doses of self-criticism from a party which was in power until last January and is certainly responsible for much of the present situation of the country. Instead both candidates have chosen to appeal to their “traditional” audience by declaring their allegiance to the past leaders of ND and their pride for having been members of their governments.
What they seem to be saying is that SYRIZA has seized the power from them by promising a better deal and it should be the one to pay the price of its failure to produce one.
The party of Nea Dimokratia is one of the oldest in Greece and it has been in power for many decades interchanging with PASOK. At the moment the socialist-democrats seem to have lost all their past power yet ND is still a major political player. It is therefore obvious that whatever the result, it will be of some importance for the future of the country.
It is also rather sad that none of the two candidates have truly chosen to promise a sincere “modernization” of their party should they win. They have both fallen into the trap of attacking SYRIZA but they have failed to see how to simply wait for the governing party to fall under its' own fatigue or ineptitude is the very reason why, even when they will regain power they will simply have failed. ND has an advantage over SYRIZA in that it's generic political position in the spectrum is closer to that of most European countries' governments. ND now has the time to re-invent itself, to come into stride with today's liberal thought as it has emerged in the west and become a formidable player in future Greece. Unfortunately the scent of its opponent's blood has proven stronger.
C.N.