The 1.5% and 2.5% election plan

Behind the economic announcements made by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis at the Thessaloniki International Fair lies a carefully targeted electoral plan aimed at the 2027 elections. The slogan was “a dividend for everyone,” but the speech focused directly on particular social groups.

The income measures target self-employed workers, private-sector employees, public servants, pensioners, farmers, people with disabilities, and families with three or more children. The immediate objective is clear: New Democracy wants upcoming opinion polls, and especially those released by Christmas, to move decisively beyond the 28% to 30% range and reach 30% to 32%.

A polling figure beginning with 3 is regarded as the necessary launchpad for the election. If it does not appear by the end of the year, the article says, pressure will build over the prime minister’s office. The groups addressed at the fair are viewed as capable of delivering that crucial share both immediately and over the longer term.

Self-employed workers and farmers are particularly important. New Democracy approached 50% among both groups in the 2023 elections, and together they number nearly 1.5 million people. The speech therefore concentrated on constituencies that formed part of the party’s 2023 electoral base, even under the broader “dividend for everyone” heading.

The address also formally opened the pre-election period by setting out the first central points of conflict with the opposition, beginning with proposals that, in the government’s view, lack costings. Although Mitsotakis avoided directly attacking opposition parties, the speech effectively signaled the start of a campaign the article describes as especially polarized.