Greece: signs of a rigged election as the country officially enters a dark post-democracy

by system failure

 

The last four years with Kyriakos Mitsotakis in charge of Greece could be easily characterized as one of the worst periods in country's history since the fall of military junta in 1974. 

 

From the beginning of his term, Mitsotakis took full control of the National Intelligence Service and the Athens News Agency. This was a first strong sign that his administration was about to be transformed eventually into a regime that would defy fundamental democratic principles. 

 

Shortly after, Mitsotakis started to put his own people in key positions in Greece's national television and radio broadcaster. In this way, he managed to control the entire landscape of Greece's mainstream media as the big private TV stations that belong to the local oligarchs, did everything to bring him in power and fully support him to this day.

Mitsotakis and his cabinet had also become the only option for the Brussels-Berlin directorate of the EU, as well as for the US imperialist branch of the Western bloc. That's because the PASOK party - the other part of the political establishment beside Mitsotakis' New Democracy - collapsed in May's 2012 election and after Greece's default. 

 

As we wrote right after the 2019 election, the current New Democracy party is a product of the Greek oligarchy establishment. The party - especially after the eruption of the Greek crisis in 2010 - has been transformed into an unprecedented and peculiar mixture of some of the most fanatic neoliberals and some of the most fanatic nationalists.

Mitsotakis administration turned out to be a regime much worse than we could ever imagine.

When Covid-19 pandemic swept Europe, Mitsotakis regime was caught unprepared to deal with it effectively, like almost every other government. As pandemic persisted, instead of trying to build a stronger national health system, the regime left it weak and vulnerable. The regime actually exploited the crisis to promote its agenda for full privatization of the healthcare sector.

The regime slipped further into authoritarianism with the big spying scandal of political opponents and journalists, human rights abuses, skyrocketing prices for the benefit of the local oligarch cartels.

Add to that the recent big train crash disaster and you have the perfect recipe for the regime to suffer a significant loss of power in recent election. Yet, the result surprised even the most optimistic supporters of the regime as Mitsotakis marked an unexpected victory, maintaining the percentage of the 2019 election.

On the contrary, the main opposition party SYRIZA suffered significant loss as its power dropped to about 20%. The result doesn't even make sense. It could only be explained if the regime orchestrated rigged election. Something that, unfortunately,  would be very difficult to be proved as the regime controls completely all the powers involved. From the judicial stuff to the company that has the monopoly of processing and announcing the results.

Mitsotakis came very close to form a government from this election. Yet, he has to go to a second election in about a month when he will have the opportunity to form an autonomous government without the need of other parties. There is also a danger to reach 180 seats as the system in the second election gives bonus seats to the first party. Which means that his government could even change the constitution at will. 

 

Unless a miracle happens, Greece has officially entered a dark post-democracy.