PM in Thessaloniki’s western neighborhoods today – The gvt’s conundrum for the city’s first district

Without planning the evening keynote address to a party audience, with which he usually concludes his same-day tours, Kyriakos Mitsotakis is going to Thessaloniki today, having already revealed that he will be a candidate there as well. Otherwise, the visit to the western neighborhoods of Thessaloniki includes everything that was originally planned a month ago.

After all, this is a tour that was scheduled to take place on March 1, after former Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis had declared that he was withdrawing from the ballots. Mitsotakis will, among other things, visit the three army camps “Karatassiou”, “Ziaka” and “Pavlou Mela” and the new Modiano market, as well as meetings with the current and new New Democracy candidate MPs and a discussion with citizens in a cafe near the Kordelio-Evosmos town hall . Before leaving Thessaloniki, the prime minister intends to attend the Mass on Holy Monday.

Fermentations

Personally, the prime minister and party officials are going up to the North for the umpteenth time ahead of the elections. After all, Mitsotakis had decided before the tragedy in Tempi to be a candidate (also) in Thessaloniki first district- he would announce it himself to be exact from the seat of the Municipality of Pavlos Melas, Stavroupoli -, attempting to rally.

The aim is also on the semantics of being a candidate in a district in Northern Greece, where on the one hand New Democracy is under pressure, and on the other, one of the highest percentages of the young population is found. It remains to be seen if the prime minister will stick to symbolism or if he will surprise after the elections by keeping the seat there.

Pressures right and left

It has been several months now that the New Democracy has been anxiously focusing on Thessaloniki’s first district, exorcising leaks to the right or to the left of its own political space. It is also not an impregnable castle of the ruling party. In 2019, ND achieved a lead with 35.52% (i.e. lower than its nationwide percentage) against SYRIZA’s 31.31%. After all, SYRIZA won half of the municipalities (Pavlou Mela, Neapolis-Sykeon, Ampelokipon-Menemenis) of the Thessaloniki metro area.

At the same time, the Hellenic Solution of Kyriakos Velopoulos had a higher performance than the party’s nationwide percentage (5.39% versus 3.70%), as did Golden Dawn (3.92% versus 2.93%).

For months now, therefore, there has been a great deal of mobility in the northern city, and especially in the west, with successive visits by executives for meetings or informal discussions. All government staff and party HQ have been there individually or as part of a small group, however without Mitsotakis: the ministers of state Akis Skertsos and Giorgos Gerapetritis, the Prime Minister’s close associate Yiannis Bratakos, party secretary Pavlos Marinakis etc. .

In addition, the party gave an experienced executive, Giorgos Katsaounos, the task of… electoral “sector leader” for all of Central Macedonia. A crucial bet for New Democracy is to relieve as soon as possible the pressures it is under not only in  Thessaloniki but also in other “grey” areas of the North, sealing off its right wing in particular.

In the New Democracy’s business of providing answers to the conundrum of Thessaloniki and addressing both the Center and the right-wing audience that is moving away from the center-right faction, the burden has been systematically falling since last autumn on highlighting the projects that the party has delivered or will continue in Thessaloniki (metro, new ring road, port rail and road connection, etc.).