When Kyriakos Mitsotakis announces measures from the podium of the TIF, everyone starts talking about early elections. The same thing happens when he makes visits both within and outside Attica.
Except that he himself has shown that he doesn’t link anything to his decisions regarding potential political developments. On the contrary, he consistently follows an approach that, at the end of the day, separates the issue of elections from announcements, promises, and declarations—or from his presence in various regions across the country.
Let’s look at what happened, for example, last year shortly before and shortly after the opening of the Thessaloniki International Fair. That is, when media reports prior to the official announcements spoke of pre-election measures and continued to follow the same line of reasoning even after the announcements.
The prime minister did not call for elections; instead, he implemented the measures to which he had committed. In other words, he proceeded with the most extensive tax reform in many years, with reductions in tax rates that have resulted—and continue to result—since the beginning of the year in increased incomes.
It moved to support vulnerable and at-risk segments of the population, implementing relief measures amid the fuel and energy crisis as a whole, just as it did in previous years. In other words, it has adopted an approach and strategy that both provides relief to citizens and fosters economic growth.
At the same time, during his first four-year term, he demonstrated that he believes in serving out the full term of government offices. In other words, the possibility of an election this fall is out of the question. No one can rule anything out by prejudging developments or even needs that concern the country and its citizens as a whole. Nor can anyone predict developments based on the toxicity of the political scene, the mudslinging, or the targeting that escalates into character assassination.
However, that is one thing; it is quite another to attempt to link specific moves and actions to the possibility of early elections. We must not forget that Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as prime minister, repeatedly visits various regions of the country, demonstrating that he seeks to obtain firsthand information, that is, from the citizens themselves.
He has also shown that he can run both a sprint and a marathon. And especially when it comes to the latter, we mustn’t forget that it’s a race that makes you sweat your… shirt off, but also requires great endurance.
In any case, what he himself states at every opportunity is that the elections will take place in the spring of 2027, due to our country assuming the presidency of the European Union in the second half of this year. He also notes that the political time leading up to the announcement of the elections can be used to launch and complete programs, projects, and reforms.
In essence, neither the measures nor the campaign tours and visits determine the timing of the elections, just as promises and empty handouts do not determine their outcome, but rather the daily lives of citizens, always in conjunction with the need for stability and a climate of security both within and, above all, beyond our borders.
