The victory of ND in the elections in 1990 was achieved in a period of economic crisis, overwhelming changes and rearrangements in the international environment, which were associated with the fall of communism in East Europe.

The pervading political-ideological climate of that period was marked by the prevalence of liberal ideas and approaches. The party in office was based on these ideas, in order to administer economy with bold propositions (emphasis on denationalization, restriction of the public sector and reduction of expenses, lifting of labour market restrictions etc.). However, these propositions came up against strong social reactions. The immense political cost and the -often organized- reactions (clientele interests, opposition supporting these reactions etc.), which arose as drastic measures were taken, undermined or even impeded the planned endeavour. The strict austerity policy pursued by ND increased the discontent of middle and lower strata against the government, which was blamed for ‘social analgesia’.

Contention in the political arena continued to be strong and was accompanied by accusations for scandals and erroneous handling in the different sectors (education, the Macedonia problem etc.). The unbridgeable disagreement between the prime minister and the foreign minister, Antonis Samaras, on the subject of the appellation of FYROM was the cause of creation of a new party, the Political Spring Party (POLAN), whose aim would be to ‘rise above’ the establishment. The Mitsotakis government clashed on numerous occasions with the ‘lobbying’ interdependent interests (between organized publishing companies and businessmen circles) on crucial issues of political strategy [privatization of the Greek Telecommunication Organization (OTE) etc.]. This situation weakened the fragile parliamentary majority that the party had (151 deputies) and, combined with the exacerbation of the ‘Macedonia problem’, led to the fall of the government.