ATHENS – Despite allegations of bugging and responsibility for a deadly train crash, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis remains the frontrunner ahead of the May 21 elections, leading by almost 7%.

Electoral law changes make an outright victory unlikely, but if Mitsotakis secures the most votes without a majority, a second ballot on July 2 could enhance his chances with additional parliamentary seats.

Mitsotakis’ ability to navigate challenges, such as rising food prices, while attracting foreign investment and promoting economic recovery amid the waning pandemic, has bolstered his popularity.

Surveys indicate that even the train tragedy has had minimal impact on Mitsotakis’ support, showcasing his resilience against rivals and critics, as highlighted by The Wall Street Journal.

“He is under a cloud: A festering scandal over the surveillance of political friends and foes has deepened concerns about the rule of law in a country still healing from its traumatic debt crisis,” the paper stated.

But he also enjoys an advantage: “Mitsotakis is widely seen as a competent, business-friendly technocrat who has steered the economy through turbulent times, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the fallout from the war in Ukraine,” the paper noted.

However, the report expressed concerns about his exercise of power, particularly allegations of altering laws to protect bankers and business executives facing financial crimes trials and promoting favoritism.

The government has also faced criticism for alleged refugee and migrant pushbacks, which it vehemently denies, despite mounting evidence from human rights groups, activists, and reputable media outlets like The New York Times.

Greece’s media freedom is ranked last in the European Union, although the government has dismissed Reporters Without Borders’ rankings as unreliable, adopting this response as a common tactic to counter most criticisms.

WHAT, ME WORRY?

“The issues that have come to light have taken the shine off Mitsotakis,” said Nick Malkoutzis, co-founder of the Greece analysis website MacroPolis.gr, with a caveat.

“This is an electorate that has been through the debt crisis, that can see an economic recovery slowly emerging, and that seems to think it’s better to keep the economy in Mitsotakis’s hands,” he said, instead of the anti-business SYRIZA.

“Greece is European but also Balkan. All Greek leaders feel the need to use dark means, to act outside the system in order to control it,” commented a veteran observer of Greece’s politics, who requested anonymity, to the paper.

Mitsotakis also led his party back to power after a 4 1/2-year reign by SYRIZA ended in a rout during the July 2019 snap polls, which saw Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras ousted after breaking virtually all of his promises.

Speaking to the US Congress in May 2022, Mitsotakis praised how the world embraced the democracy shaped by Ancient Greece, including the Founding Fathers of America who largely followed the model.

“But they were wise enough to insert checks and balances to avoid the excesses that eventually undermined Athenian democracy,” he stated, highlighting some of the same problems cited by the paper during his administration.

The report noted that there is dissension within New Democracy, which is kept under control, with infighting between factions, including those who advocate for maintaining ties with influential big business barons and oligarchs.

“There does not exist in Greece a bureaucracy with a strong sense of service to the state. Weak institutions mean that Greek politicians place a great premium on trust,” remarked Kevin Featherstone, a scholar of modern Greece at the London School of Economics and author of a book on Greek Premiers.