Two new right-wing parties: The «serious HA» and the «old orthodox New Democracy»

The accuracy, the suspicion of a part of the “patriotic right” regarding the intentions of Maximos on national issues, the dissatisfaction of traditional neo-democrats with the strong presence of Semites in the “executive state”, accelerate developments not for one, but for at least two new parties/political formations to the right of New Democracy.

The scenario of a new party to the right of the Southwest, which could use the impetus of the simple proportional representation in the first polls (since the elections will be double) to reach the crucial 3% and enter the Parliament in the second polls or to negotiate in the meantime the return to the blue “mantry”, has been “brewing” for a long time.

The expeller from the Southwest, Konstantinos Bogdanos, having found that there was no open door for his return, he nailed the George Gerapetritis for his presence at the famous gathering along with Ilias Kasidiaris and proceeded with discussions with the Failo Kranidiotis and the Thanos Tzimeros, for a.... coalition of the far right.

A discussion that has been held before and when the Southwest was in the opposition, but stumbled then and is stumbling now on who will be the leader of such a project: everyone wants to be a leader.

Mr.Bogdanos, therefore, proceeds to announce his own political movement on April 5, inviting the Kranidiotis-Tzimeros party to cooperate. The rationale of the MP for Athens is that a new party of the extreme right, in which he himself wants to be the leader, can draw votes from disaffected neo-democrats, but also from the Golden Dawn pool that has been left out of parliament and which is being claimed by the party of the convicted Kassidiaris.

But it does not seem very likely that Mr.Kranidiotis will accept to leave the leading role to another, equally “exuberant” member of the hard right.

Mr Bogdanos, in creating his own movement, is probably thinking a little more cunningly: That is, he is taking into account the scenario between the first and second elections, that Kyriakos Mitsotakis will call for a pan-party rally, as Antonis Samaras did in 2012 by calling back Dora Bakoyannis.

And in such a scenario, anyone who has a scheme of their own and has received even a small percentage will have negotiating power. Mr Bogdanos still has political friends in the Southwest, while there are also those who would accept the extreme neo-liberal Mr Tzimeros. However, Mr Kranidiotis is in any case a red rag for Maximou, as he has launched personal attacks against the Prime Minister on many occasions.

The old SW, the orthodox

The presentation of the Bogdanou political movement will be attended by the former Secretary of Political Planning of the New Democracy, Nikos Karachalios, without this implying that he has any intention of cooperating with the MP for Athens I. Mr Karachalios, on the contrary, is participating in the ferment for another, centre-right, political movement, along with a dozen other former ministers and executives, who are in a clear anti-Mitsotaki and anti-Semitic mood.

As the participants in these centre-right fermentations say, they aspire to express the “genuine” South-West, as believe that the ruling party has deviated from its principles and it is no longer the social patriotic centre-right. They also express the dissatisfaction of traditional neo-democrats with the large number of people from the semitic PASOK in the government and the “executive state”, such as George Gerapetritis, Akis Skertsos and Michael Chrysochoidis.

Karachalios has been in contact with executives such as Savvas Tsitouridis, Thanasis Giannopoulos, Argyris Dinopoulos, Christos Markogiannakis, George Orfanos, Fevronia Patrianakou, but they have not “shaken hands”. It is clear that these fermentations, however, involve former “captains” of the Karamanlian ND, as well as Samariki cadres and old Mitsotakians who have now been sidelined.

The participants, however, make it clear that they do not aspire to express the views of either of the two former prime ministers, who have no knowledge of the discussions. Moreover, they will not rush to form a party, but will first gauge the reactions, estimating, after all, that early elections will be delayed in the end.

The head of the movement will be a “surprise” person or the question of leadership will be resolved by the appointment of a triumvirate or five executives who will be responsible for a specific area. The aim in fact is reportedly more to influence the ND, with a war of attrition against the Mitsotakis leadership and possibly negotiate their return to the party the next day.

By Vicky Samaras