Kyriakos Mitsotakis am 23. Juni 2023 in Athen.Foto: ARIS OIKONOMOU/SOOC/AFP via Getty Images
In Greece, the polling stations for the parliamentary elections opened on Sunday morning. According to polls, the previous conservative head of government, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has a good chance of a further term in office.
In the parliamentary elections in Greece this Sunday, a victory for the conservative People’s Party Nea Dimokratia (ND) under its leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis is emerging. Polls indicate that the outgoing prime minister will receive around 40 percent of the vote. According to the polls, his closest rival, the left-wing politician Alexis Tsipras and his radical alliance of the left (Syriza), only get around 20 percent.
Such a result would be almost the same as in the previous general election five weeks ago. However, there was simple proportional representation – Mitsotakis could not form a government without an absolute majority. The conservatives did not want to form a coalition and there was no willing partner. So new elections were called.
A new electoral law will apply on Sunday, according to which the strongest party will get up to 50 bonus seats. Mitsotakis is therefore now hoping for a clear absolute majority. First forecasts are expected after the polling stations close at 18:00 CEST.
The conservative, who has governed alone for the past four years, presents himself as the guarantor of stability, a social market economy, investment and tax breaks. During the election campaign, he repeatedly referred to the successes of his reign. Mitsotakis managed to attract international companies and investors to the country. Unemployment fell to eleven percent (2019: 20 percent), pensions and the minimum wage were slightly increased.
Syriza boss fights for political survival
Syriza boss Alexis Tsipras is fighting for his political survival in this election. His election campaign, which portrays Mitsotakis and his reign in a negative light and warns against a kind of conservative regime and social poverty, does not seem to have caught on with voters. Syriza’s program, which promised higher minimum wages and pensions and the expansion of the welfare state, also failed, especially since Syriza never explained how the expenditures should be financed.
His party in the parliamentary elections plummeted five weeks ago, scoring just 20 percent, down 11.5 percentage points from four years earlier. Since then, criticism of the party leader has been growing. If the election result is bad again, it would be Tsipras’ fifth defeat in a row after the 2019 parliamentary elections, the European and local elections and the most recent elections – and possibly his end as party leader.
Situation in Greece slightly improved
Although the Greeks are still among the people most at risk of poverty in a European comparison, the situation has improved at least slightly since Mitsotakis first took office in 2019. That is why many are now banking on political stability instead of renewed high government spending.
In addition to ND and Syriza, another 30 parties are starting. Among the strongest are the social democratic Pasok, which was last at 11.5 percent, the Greek Communist Party (KKE) with 7.2 percent and the right-wing populist Elliniki Lisi (Greek Solution) with 4.2 percent. In Greece there is a three percent threshold for entering parliament. (dpa/red)