Greece: Tempi victim's mother founds political party
Maria Karystianou, a paediatrician and mother of one of the victims of the Tempi train crash, has announced in a TV interview that she is founding a new political party which will channel the discontent many citizens feel towards the political system. According to a recent poll, Karystianou's popularity stands at 33 percent - ahead of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (26 percent) and all other top politicians in Greece.
Attractive to those who feel left behind and marginalised
The online news site Liberal notes that Karystianou has broad appeal:
“She has vehemently brought 'justice' as a moral issue into the political discourse, and this is attracts a wider, non-politicised audience. This audience has been radicalised by the [austerity] measures and brought up to attribute all Greece's ills to the current political system while overlooking the country's simultaneous significant achievements. As a result, according to polls, the new party is reaching a broader audience, ranging from anti-establishment right-wing extremists and 'confused conspiracy theorists' of all persuasions to disappointed leftists, and even those seeking 'chaos' because they believe they have 'nothing left to lose'.”
Political vacuum leaves plenty of leeway
Efimerida ton Syntakton notes a failure on the part of the left:
“As we saw in the interview and already know, the party will be conservative. ... All those on the left who criticise and even level accusations against Maria Karystianou have nothing to offer Greece today. [The liberal-conservative Prime Minister] Mitsotakis has no opponents, and the left in our country is increasingly divided. Is the answer to Mitsotakis more left-wing parties with 1, 2 or 3 percent against him? ... Maria Karystianou would not exist today if there were justice in Greece rather than a huge political vacuum. The left bears the greatest responsibility for this political vacuum.”