Mitsotakis' "sprint" for self-reliance: How the campaign culminates

The open rally and speech of Kyriakos Mitsotakis at Syntagma Square on Friday 23 June will mark the end of the second consecutive election period. The choice of the capital's most central square, which has associated its name with the largest political rallies of the past years, conceals for the New Democracy party a strong symbolism of unity within the party and the message of self-reliance that the blue camp wants to send out.

A key objective for the leader of ND in the last week before the polls open is to highlight the government's program for the next four years, but also a further specification of the government's planning, either concerning the ministries that are being established or the barrage of reforms and bills that his staff is preparing.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has already announced that the first bills will include the regulation for the return of EYDAP and EYATH to the state. At the same time, he plans to proceed with the reconstruction and improvement of the executive state, which will aim at the flexibility and efficiency of the central administration, the better distribution of responsibilities, the functioning of the cabinet, but also transfers of responsibilities between ministries.

As for the character of the next ND government? Mitsotakis was clear about his intentions, talking about choosing "the best or the best", without the ideological orientation of the cadres as a prerequisite, but with clear characteristics of renewal and outside the party.

Until then, the widening of the lead as recorded in the latest polls, as well as the large penetration of centrist voters, should be confirmed at the ballot box. The stability in the vote estimate recorded by ND in successive polls - ranging between 40% and 41% - may create conditions of optimism on Piraeus Street, along with the high coalescence of 91%, but in order to achieve a comfortable self-reliance, the undecideds will have to move massively to the blue camp and abstention will have to remain low.

With the pool of undecideds hovering in the 7%-8% range, the president's associates are also focusing their analyses on the final number of small parties that will manage to cross the 3% threshold and enter parliament. The tough battle in the "tail" of the election is the big issue, since there are 20 seats being contested by the smaller parties in order to secure a ticket to the next parliamentary composition.