Democrats (Piraea)
Democrats Δημοκρατικοί | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | DM Δημ |
| Leader | Anna Theodoropoulou |
| Spokesperson in Senate | Nikolaos Artineas |
| Founded | May 1, 2008 |
| Headquarters | 15 Oulouargi, Alikianos |
| Youth wing | Democrat Youth |
| Membership (2022) |  5,120 |
| Ideology | Liberalism Anti-corruption Economic liberalism Pro-Eucleanism |
| Political position | Centre to Centre-right |
| Continental affiliation | Forward Euclea (Observer) |
| Colours | Blue |
| Piraean Senate | 8 / 125
|
| Website | |
| dim.pr | |
Democrats (Piraean: Δημοκρατικοί; shortened as DM and Δημ) is a centre to centre-right liberal political party of Piraea founded during economic crisis of 2005 and which emerged shortly after the Piraean political crisis of 2009.
Democrats traces its origins to the social discontent produced after the 2005 economic crisis, when it was founded by a number of journalists and liberal economists as a technocrats and citizens' platform. During its initial years, the party exposed a radically critic voice over most economic issues, blaming PSEE and the People's Party over the economic mismanagement of the crisis; during the general elections of that year, the party gained 3 seats in the Piraean Senate, which amplified the exposition of its message. After the economic and political crisis that shaked Piraea in the period 2005-2008, Democrats became close to surpass the People's Party; although the party did not identify itself in the terms of the centre-right, and instead, used to classify its own platform as social democratic and progressive-liberal, it took advantage of an important amount of voters leak from the People's Party and with several opinion polls granting it the second an first positions during the heaviest months of 2008. However, despite the losses of the People's Party, it never surpassed it in number of seats.
In 2017, after a long debate about its political future, the party decided to grant confidence to the centre-left PSEE administration of Maria Theopeftatou. However, internal frictions in the cabinet, and the negative of a growing number of dissidents inside Democrats, forced the resignation of the party's leader, forcing Theopeftatou to a snap election. Although a major loss of votes was expected, the party survived 2018, after its new leader, Anna Theodoropoulou led an important swing to the right, dropping any mentions to social democracy, and instead, labelling itself as liberals.
However, the party is currently experiencing a number of difficulties at a national and regional level, after the 2022 general elections gave it the lowest number of seats in its history and falling to the 5th place by number of seats in the Senate. It is currently debating itself to merge with Change and the People's Party.
Ideology
The ideological positions of Democrats have been of much debate in Piraean political circles and by the media. It has been described in numerous ways, extending from social liberal and progressive liberal to conservative-liberal and populist. During its initial years, it used to expose a soft anti-establishment discourse, which it slightly erased with the pass of the years. Under the leadership of Alexios Procopiakos-Christilis, the party identified itself with positions that varied from the radical centre to the centre-left, although it never positioned itself officially in the latter, and instead used the term of third option and post-ideologies to catch voters and visions of both sides of the spectrum. However, several social studies about its electoral base positioned voters of Democrats on the centre-right side of the spectrum.
In a general congress of 2018, after electing Anna Theodoropoulou as leader of the party, it dropped all mentions to social democracy in its political platform and focused itself in fighting the position of the centre-right.
History
First years and Christoforos Gerotis (2005-2010)
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Democrats was founded in 2005, in wake of the economic crisis of that year, among journalists, economists and other related groups to the Piraean intellectualism and university social circles. It was founded around a social platform that aimed to raise the voice of citizens and build bridges between these, and professionals of diverse sector.
During its founding congress, the party positioned itself against the hegemony of the PSEE and the People's Party, and aimed to break with Piraean bipartidism from a post-ideologies position that aimed to focus in human values and a future inside the Euclean Community. The party's disruptive position in the political panorama of Piraea produced a domino effect in several sectors of the centre-left and the centre-right, which saw threatened their position in the political spectrum; during its first years, the party saw itself in numerous controversies, such as the vague delimitation of ideological values, and the contacts of some of its members with the lobby and social pressure group Enough! (Φτάνει Πια!), which has been associated with certain right-wing social lobbies.
During the leadership of Christoforos Gerotis, the party developed a strong and aggressive marketing campaign against the two largest political parties of Piraea, which often nurtured the populist identification attributed by the media. During these initial years, the party also denounced informative boicots and aggressions from other political militants, often from the far-left. In 2008, the political crisis that forced the resignation of Evangelos Polakis and the start of percederation of the largest party of the centre-right, pushed Democrats to lead several polls at the first and second positions; however, after the general elections, it stood at the third place with 19 seats in the Senate (the largest growth of a Piraean political party in democracy).
Alexios Procopiakos-Christilis (2010-2017)
In 2010, the party faced the internal debate of surpassing its foundational time and Gerotis presented his resignation as leader. That same year, the party elected, through a congress, to Alexios Procopiakos-Christilis. During this time, the party included the notion of social democracy in its political platform, although it remained focusing in the idea of being a transversal party, which gave it the sympathy of a portion of the middle and entrepeneurial classes.
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With some of the worse results of the People's Party, Procopiakos-Christilis took Democrats to its best result after the general elections in 2017, where the tww largest parties were seen as severely damaged. That year, the leader of the PSEE, Maria Theopeftatou invited Democrats to a coalition, igniting a debate inside Democrats about its role in the political world of Piraea, with many members arguing that the party should focus on being a transversal option that could dialogue with both sides of the spectrum, while others pushed for further political action. Through an agreement with the PSEE, Democrats joined the first and only cabinet together with Green Alternative, Humanist Centre and the Independent Regionalist Union. However, internal frictions with the PSEE —and inside the party— forced Democrats to leave the cabinet and Theopeftatou called for a snap election 143 days after having inaugurated the legislature.
Several media outlets blamed Democrats for having irresponsibly forced the collapse of the legislature and predicted important electoral loses. As a response, Procopiakos-Christilis renounced from his position as leader and the party voted for Anna Theodoropoulou to lead the party through the general elections of 2018.
Anna Theodoropoulou (2018-present)
In 2018, Theodoropoulou became leader of the party in an effort to stop the leak of voters and important figures. That same year, the party changed a large portion of its political platform in order to compete with the People's Party for the representation on the right-wing of the spectrum; some of these changes were extensively criticised by other political parties and newspapers, such as the new labelling under the brand "liberals" and the drop out of the term —an all connotations with— social democracy.
The party achieved its main goal of preventing an electoral catastrophe during the general elections, losing only three seats and remaining as third option. However, the image of the party suffered a severe erosion during the legislature, as the party fought for the representation of the opposition of the Panopoulos government and a number of scandals emerged in relation to internal conflicts. In 2019, Georgios Konstantinou was elected leader of the People's Party, causing a disruption in the political scenario and the emergence of the party again post-percederation; Konstantinou and other figures of the party rapidly used the erosion of Democrats to attract voters of the centre and centre-right. In 2022, during the electoral year, important figures of Democrats left the party and were accused of having crossed the floor. In the general election, the party suffered its largest loss of votes, and consequently, of seats in the Senate, falling to the fifth position with 8 MSs. Anna Theodoropoulou put on consideration her continuity as leader of the party, but in an extraordinary congress, her leadership was ratified again, deepening the political strategy that the party took at the start of 2018.
As of 2023, the party faces the regional elections with candidates in the regions of Foinikas, Sitia and the Souda Riviera, although it is expected to lose its representation in at least two of the regions. In April, the People's Party candidate of Fonikas and current Minister-President extended the invitation to form an electoral alliance with the aim of merging Democrats with the party.
Electoral performance
| Election year | Leading candidate | Piraean Senate | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Christoforos Gerotis | 3 / 125
|
New party | Opposition |
| 2009 | 19 / 125
|
 16
|
Opposition | |
| 2013 | Alexios Procopiakos-Christilis | 19 / 125
|
 0
|
Opposition |
| 2017 | 23 / 125
|
6
|
Coalition PSEE–PEL–ΑΚ–APE | |
| 2018 | Anna Theodoropoulou | 20 / 125
|
3
|
Opposition |
| 2022 | 8 / 125
|
11
|
Opposition | |
| 2023 | 4 / 125
|
4
|
Coalition LK [1] |
Notes
- ↑ Democrats approved to join the People's Party senatorial group, leading to the dissolution of the party.