Kasselakis, our national daffodil

The current pre-election period lends itself more to gossip or gossip than to Euro-analyses. As you have already noticed, the “serious” topics that occupy the current affairs are the maisonette and the Kasselaki cruises, the wonders of the swimming pool and the celebrity candidates.

The aphasia of the pre-election period probably has a numerical explanation: the political scene has been consolidated and the opinion polls show no fluctuations or particular surprises. No one threatens the Mitsotakis rule, nor can they transform the creeping punitive impulse for the government into a majority counterproposal.

We are therefore marching (not to say sleepwalking) to June 9 with an almost predetermined election result, while the major confrontations in the public debate are absent. There is only the danger that the candidacies of so many TV presenters, “parsleys” and athletes will drive away the serious voter from the Euro-election and strengthen abstention.

Kasselakis has great responsibilities for this pre-election mess. It has all the features that contribute to the policy discount. Under the guise of reorganizing the left space, Stefanos caters to an alien audience and those who generally like the cheesy, the flamboyant and the flashy. He’s trying to build the movement not of a New Left, but of those who see politics as fun or a lifestyle—thankfully, a minority for now. It uncontrollably invades our field of vision and bombards us with its riches and goodies – not in terms of political communication, but narcissistic hysteria. This new SYRIZA, adopting elements of reality to reach the audience, can only do harm to the country, to the quality of politics and to our already fragile political morals in general.

I wonder what reasonable person can take SYRIZA seriously seeing Kasselakis sailing in the Aegean with 5-6 cameras together and posing like DiCaprio in “Titanic”. In the next shot, we can see our national narcissus spread out with a towel on “Par’ afron”, anointed with oil and sunbathing like a proper tourist. And it is surprising why he multiplies the lifestyle interviews, since in them he simply confirms his ignorance of finances and his anxiety to hide his assets, in a style of unprecedented swagger (are you my accountant?).

And alas, if the European elections of June 9 confirm that all it takes is hot air and an unbridled narcissism for someone to settle in the Greek political scene.

For its part, ND seems to be recovering after the shocks of Tempe, Kyriaki Griva, but also the dissatisfaction due to accuracy. The people who voted for her are rallying again, seeing Kasselakis airing politically and preoccupying us exclusively with his persona.

Partially lost during this whole period is Nikos Androulakis and PASOK. He is not attracting new voters, while he seems to be losing the old ones with the radical leftist profile he has chosen to support. However, the bet is not lost if he adjusts his tactics until the next national elections.

Certainly lost is the European question at this juncture. The message about the seriousness of the European elections sent by the parties is canceled when the lists include so many persons whose main criterion is recognition. Especially the New Democracy government, which considers Europe the great bet of the free world, against forces that strike at the instability of the West, cannot present ballots taken from television panels or sports events.