| Pub. Date | : Jan, 2021 |
|---|---|
| Product Name | : The IUP Journal of International Relations |
| Product Type | : Article |
| Product Code | : IJIR10121 |
| Author Name | : Emmanouil Mavrozacharakis |
| Availability | : YES |
| Subject/Domain | : Arts & Humanities |
| Download Format | : PDF Format |
| No. of Pages | : 6 |
The presence of the right-wing party of Nea Dimokratia (ND) in the political spectrum of Greece reflects an enormous change in the political behavior of the public. The citizens have not just contributed with their votes to a strategic defeat of populism but also paved the way for the search for a new type of leadership, which is close to realism in handling the social problems. This is a clear trend against the overpromise and under-delivery experienced under Syriza's rule. The dominance of conservative ND is not an ideological choice. It is a choice that runs counter to the logic of falsely or hypocritically negotiating austerity measures opposed to Greece by his Lenders (memorandum) and the consequent tax-tornado as a result of negotiating failure with the partners in the EEC and the IMF. The positive choice of ND also reflects the contradiction with the misguided manipulations of public opinion regarding the strategy of micro concessions and micro allowances as a means of concluding a "politicalsocial alliance" with an undefined hostile establishment.
It is clear that strategic electoral defeats do not refer to percentages but to structural transformations and shifts in the electorate and to voting against political logics. In this sense, the last elections in Greece reflect an enormous change in the political stance of the electorate. The citizens have not chosen a simple switch on the power but contributed with their votes to a strategic defeat of populism and at the same time they have paved the way for a new type of leadership which is close to pragmatism and rationalism in handling social problems that cannot be implemented with calculated financial costs. In a specific way, the Greek public were disgusted against the over-promising rhetoric and the under-delivery politics experienced under Syriza's rule. In these terms, "Greece already has a first-hand experience of economic populism and rejected it after a long time of hope, making a turn towards pragmatism", as Pagoulatos stated.1 The vote in 2015 was one of hope, of desperation. Then the idealism collapsed. Now people are focusing on whom they believe can deliver.2 According to Kazamias,3 "the painful truth about Syriza is that