Some 10 million Greeks are summoned tomorrow to the polls for the second time in a month to elect a new Parliament and Government, in general elections in which the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis seeks an absolute majority in Parliament.
According to the latest polls, Mitsotakis’s conservative New Democracy will add 40% of the vote, thus would take 20 points ahead of the opposition and leftist Syrizaof the former head of Government Alexis Tsipras, who will obtain 20%.
Is about identical percentages to those that the two parties received in the elections of May 21, although this time the conservative leader would only need to receive 39% to win an absolute majority in the 300-seat Parliament, according to Efe.
Η ευθύνη περνά τώρα στα δικά σας χέρια. Την Κυριακή, μέσα στον φάκελο δεν θα υπάρχει λευκή επιταγή. Αλλά ισχυρή εντολή. Ένα διαβατήριο για προκοπή, με σφραγίδα λαϊκή. Ώστε, το τιμόνι της χώρας να την οδηγήσει με ασφάλεια εκεί που όλοι θέ λουμε: στην πρώτη γραμμή της Ευρώπης. pic.twitter.com/hOEMp1pzrA
—Kyriakos Mitsotakis (@kmitsotakis) June 23, 2023
And this thanks to a premium of up to 50 seats to the winning party, which had been eliminated in the last elections, after which All attempts to form a government failed.
As Yannis Konstantinidis, professor of Political Behavior at the University of Macedonia, told Efe, New Democracy knew how to “take the pulse of Hellenic society”, which after a decade of financial crisisthe pandemic and the energy crisis, does not want big changes but political and economic stability.
Mitsotakis presented herself during the election campaign as the “only option” to form “a stable government” before the division of the left parties.
He promised to keep the country on the path of growth, in order for Greece to give “a great leap towards Europe” in the coming years in terms of wages and living standards.
[Mitsotakis gana las elecciones en Grecia pero necesita una coalición para evitar otros comicios]
For his part, Tsipras advocated an economy “that works for everyone” and after the debacle in May – Syriza lost a third of its support compared to 2019 – it asked for the vote to remain a “strong opposition party”.
Although Mitsotakis has not been able to alleviate the galloping inflation in basic foods, during his tenure he has managed to make the economy grow above the European average and large foreign investments arrived.
Είμαστε και θα είμαστε εδώ, μαζί.
Για να υπερασπιστούμε κάθε κοινωνική ομάδα που βρίσκεται στο στόχαστρ ο της Δεξιάς.
Για να δώσουμε ανάσα στη δημοκρατία και χώρο στην αντίσταση.
Σας καλώ να δώσουμε τον αγώνα των ιδεών και των αξιών μας. Τον αγώνα της αξιοπρέπειας.#torasyriza… pic.twitter.com/4MYxPilgx2— Αλέξης Τσίπρας – Alexis Tsipras (@atsipras) June 23, 2023
Although this allowed him to raise pensionseliminate or reduce a series of taxes and raise the minimum wage to 780 euros gross, Greece continues to be one of the poorest countries in the European Union (EU).
According the surveys, in third place would be the socialists of Pasok-Kinal with 12%, followed by the Communist Party of Greece (6.5%), and the nationalist Greek Solution (4%).
two new parties
Two parties would enter the Greek Parliament for the first time: the formation Travesía de la Libertad, of the former Syriza deputy Zoe Konstantopulu (4%), and the far-right and anti-system NIKI (Victoria), of theologian Dimitris Natsios (3.5%).
The elections are celebrated under the shadow of the migratory tragedy last week in the Ionian Sea, when an overcrowded fishing boat capsized, killing hundreds of migrants dead and missing.
Although the sinister sparked political tension between Tsipras and Mitsotakis Regarding the actions of the Coast Guard, it is unlikely that the tragedy will have a significant impact on the support gathered by the main parties, according to two experts consulted by Efe.
According to Konstantinidis, Greek society has a rather conservative stance regarding migration, a position in which Alexis Rutzunis, research director of KapaResearch, a company specializing in the investigation of political and social trends, also agrees.
[Grecia repetirá elecciones el 25 de junio: el más votado tendrá una prima de hasta 50 escaños]
If Mitsotakis wins an absolute majority tomorrow and forms a government, would be the first Greek head of government who manages to be re-electedor after a four-year term since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2010.
The Polling stations will remain open between 07:00 and 19:00. local (04.00-16.00 GMT) and the first results are expected to be released a few hours later.
