At the elections in Greece approximately 60% of those entitled went to vote to vote. Contrary to forecasts, abstentions were around 40%. The results were all too clear: New Democracy was confirmed as the leading party with 146 seatsWhile the biggest surprise was Syriza’s disappointing result, which stopped at 71 seats. Among others, Pasok obtained 42 seats, the communists of the KKE 25, while the Greek solution 16. As for the votes abroadwith 60 of the 99 electoral divisions counted, ND received 44.22%, Syriza 18.47%, in third place KKE with 10.56%, followed by Mera25 with 10.25% and Pasok with the 6.66%.
The outgoing prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis he commented hotly on the results of his party which reconfirms itself as the first and with the most seats, speaking of one “demonstration of self-sufficiency” for the outgoing prime minister and his New Democracy party. It is a message proclaiming in view of second forthcoming elections, which will probably take place on June 25th. At the same time, it is a clamorous message of condemnation of Syriza’s strategy which comes out of the polls with a clamorous “dubbing”. According to the son of the former Greek prime minister of the 1990s, the message that came out of the polls is clear: citizens have rewarded the last four years of government led by “blè” and with Sunday’s vote for the next four, they asked to continue on the path of economic and social reforms.
The disappointments on the left…
Two defeats on the front of the left. Per the party of Alexis Tsipras the thud was deafening, for once the outcome could not even imagine the most pessimistic Cassandra. And this is not so much due to the predicted failure of the party as due to the unexpected dimensions of the centre-right’s victory. What are the causes? Some argue that it is the price to pay for being born as an anti-system party and then becoming an aligned party anyway.
However Tsipras, after accusing the other Left parties of always putting him in the dock, declared that he assumes all the political responsibility for the defeat but that on the contrary he will not leave the fight and will be in the front row for the next elections to avoid the hegemony of Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis should he win.
The other negative surprise is represented by the party of former Finance Minister Janis Varoufakis in his second electoral experience. Out of Parliament the party that had as its objective to kill the banks. As in any couple that separates, the weaker party blames the stronger one and so on the leader of the anti-European front accuses the former premier of having rejected an alliance electoral at least, to have dispersed the votes and left the conservatives the clear path to victory. Finally, he said that he feared the Erdogan effect in Greece in case of victory in the next elections.
…and who comes out well
However, there are two surprises, albeit modest ones. The Communist Party of Greece is one of the two surprises from the left of these elections. In fact, it obtained a few more points in percentage terms especially in urban centers with a high concentration of workers. The party leader bluntly stated that it was Syriza and its leader who paved the way for the ND to triumph. Confident of the results obtained, he asked Greek voters to increase confidence in his party than he still it moves on consolidated schemes such as the union, the class struggle and anti-capitalism.
It should also be added that the small parties of the extra-parliamentary left, while maintaining insignificant percentages for the fate of Greek politics, have doubled their votes.
The other positive surprise is the result of the socialists, no longer those of the past but with a result that is moral. Not only that, but given that after the beating of 2019 the party has gotten back on top, leader Androukakis has launched an appeal to all leftist opposition to recognize themselves in the green sun and become the point of reference and cohesion. To Tsipras who accused the socialists of having conducted an electoral campaign exclusively against them, the leaders of the party invited him to look in the mirror.
Finally, a few words on the last party that managed to enter Voulì. Elliniki Lysi (Soluzione greca) was born in 2016 founded by the journalist Kyriakos Velopoulos, already a member of Laos, a center-right party and is characterized by a marked populism against everything and against everyone. She has increased votes especially in northern Greece where she is still alive opposition to the 2019 Prespe Treaty with which Greece accepted with the counterpart of Skopje the denomination of North Macedonia. In these areas the issue is sensitive and he as a politician and expert journalist has ridden the resentment.
A Parliament that will be short-lived
On Monday afternoon, the Minister of the Interior brought the official data to the President of the Republic, who conferred the mandate to the leader of the party that got the most votes and that is Kyriakos Mitsotakis of New Democracy, which resigned its mandate. On Tuesday, the head of state summoned Alexis Tsipras, to take over the post was passed to the leader of Pasok Androullakis who said that there are no conditions to form a government. The limit established by the Constitution for the formation of a government, on the basis of article 84, is the possibility of receiving a vote of confidence from Parliament, i.e. either 151 votes in favor or an absolute majority of the members present, which cannot be less than 2/5 of the total number of deputies, i.e. 120 votes, provided that there are a greater number of those who vote against.
Meanwhile, on May 24, the President of the Republic Sakellaropoùlou gave the task, according to article 37 paragraph 3 of the Constitution, to the President of the Court of Auditors Jannis Sarmas to form a caretaker government leading to elections. IOn 29 May, the inauguration and swearing-in of the new parliamentarians is expected, followed by the election of the president of Voulì.
So the new Parliament will have a short duration in view of the new call to the polls which will probably have to be fixed with a presidential decree June 25 or July 2. The electoral Odyssey is not over yet.
Cover photo EPA/GEORGE VITSARAS