Elections and dilemmas go hand in hand. There has not been an election where voters did not face a major dilemma. In the upcoming elections, one of the dilemmas posed will prevail.
The government is already calling the people to chose between “stability and instability”, to accept the progress and trust them for taking the best actions to overcome the crisis. The government dilemma seems rational, as it is constructed on a certain base and appeals to the voters’ conservative reflexes. It is focused on the future and tries to ignore the many consequences of the crisis.
The opposition counters that dilemma with an “us versus them” dilemma that is accompanied by “with Merkel or with Greece”. These dilemmas focus on voter feelings, to tap into their anger and strong emotions to win them over, based on the past, with an uncertain future. Anger can sweep over many; at this point a punitive vote is easier, but it is not enough to motivate the majority of voters.
Based on all the above, some expect the results of the European elections to be similar to those of the first elections in 2012. Namely they will condemn the parties in power and trigger dramatic political developments.
Others, however, insist that the structure of the dilemmas and the shift in circumstances will bring results similar to those of the second elections of 2012 in June: the political result of the European elections will be indifferent and incapable of causing a major upheaval
Obviously any prediction is precarious and risky. We must however accept that it has been four since the start of the crisis. Since then a lot has happened, but primarily, what we can claim, is that our country is not like a feather in the wind, like it was in spring 2012. On the contrary, the country is about to enter the next critical round of negotiations for a permanent solution to settling the public debt.
Perhaps the reliability of the debt negotiator will be the criteria for selecting a candidate in the upcoming elections…
TO VIMA
