Last night’s Maria Karystianou performance at the Olympion had something of a political memorial and something of an anti-systemic performance of the decade of 2010.
A lot of feeling, a lot of complaining, a lot of sadness and almost no political substance. Anyone expecting a new political plan for the country finally heard a series of generic proclamations that could be found in program of any protest party of the last thirty years.
The first thing anyone noticed wasn’t even the speech. It was the audience. The composition of the crowd in the room clearly indicated which direction the new venture was trying to move in.
Anti-systemic right, persecution theories, faces from the anganxious, fanatical anti-vaccinationists, religious circles and figures who have been wandering from party to party for years in search of a new political refuge.
Some of them have been prominent in the pandemic mobilizations and conspiracy rhetoric of recent years. Others had flirted with Golden Dawn before discovering more “elegant” versions of the same anger.
And that’s where the real issue begins. Ms Karystianou did not present a new political current. She attempted to unite under a more human façade all the scattered audiences of the antisystemic marketplace, and everyone now understands that a new challenger to the same reservoir of indignation has emerged.
The striking thing is that, despite the noise of the last few months, not even the Olympion has really filled up. There were people inside. Outside, however, there was nothing resembling a popular current. No spontaneous mobilization, no political explosion. A carefully organised event with several empty seats and far more journalistic anticipation than real social momentum.
The speech itself moved between messianic style and political wishes. Removal of immunities, justice everywhere, strengthening the NHS, cutting taxes, supporting the weak, growth, jobs, cracking down on obscenity. All together in the blender. No cost, no plan, no explanation. The classic Greek political “all for all” in a new package.
The phrase “to change things you need power” revealed perhaps more than she would have liked. For months her public presence was based on the moral weight of a national tragedy. But as of yesterday, the conversation is changing. Once a party is formed and a target of power is declared, society no longer listens only to a mother seeking justice. It’s a politician seeking a vote.
And that’s where the hard stuff begins. Because politics doesn’t work with moral immunity. It’s not enough to denounce everyone or label every political opponent as “mafia” to run the country. You need a program, cadres, institutional seriousness and above all awareness of reality. At Olympion, none of this was on display.
On the contrary, we saw a party that was absolutely personal. Even the title of the movement revolves around the name of its founder. This does not point to a democratic political entity. It refers to a special purpose political corporation. A vehicle for personal popularity that attempts to turn movement into electoral capital.
There were even moments when the event strayed into dangerous territory. The vulgar slogans about “mafia”, the constant logic of enemies and traitors, the underlying mood of moral civil war. All this does not resemble democratic renewal. They remind us of the Greece of toxicity that paid dearly for the era of squares and easy populism.
No one should underestimate such phenomena. right-wing populism has social fuel. There is anger, distrust and fatigue. The question is whether Ms Karystianou can develop into a real political current or whether it will end up being another temporary explosion of antisystemicism. So far, however, she seems to be more of a threat to the small protest parties than to New Democracy.
The government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis is facing a society that demands efficiency and stability. No more cries. No more practitioners of anger. And above all, no more political exploitation of collective suffering.
Because the country has seen this play before. And it now knows all too well how it ends.
