2023-05-21 18:19:53
New Democracy (ND), the conservative party of outgoing Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has won a resounding victory in the country’s general elections, held this Sunday. With an already very advanced vote, above 94%, ND exceeds 40% of support and obtains 145 seats in the Greek Parliament, which consists of 300 seats. It is a victory greater than that predicted by the polls, and which leaves the Greek right one step away from revalidating power and close to an absolute majority.
The ND’s main opponent, the Syriza of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, has not lived up to expectations and barely obtains 20% of the support of the Greeks, and little more than 70 deputies. Mitsotakis’ electoral rival thus loses more than 10 points with respect to the 2019 elections, after which it won 86 seats.
The left does not have a majority, not even counting on the reborn Pasok –the historic Socialist Party has improved the results predicted by the polls, and reaches around 12% support and 41 deputies- and with the communists, who remain at 7% and 26 seats in Parliament. Tsipras has spent the campaign calling on the Socialists to come to an agreement to curb the right, but that scenario is no longer possible with the numbers in hand. The fifth and last party with representation is the far-right Greek Solution: the heirs of the outlawed party Golden Dawn, accused of being a criminal organization, obtained 16 deputies.
The premium of 50 deputies, decisive
Before the day, all the analysts took for granted that there will be an electoral repetition in Greece, during the summer. This continues to be one of the most likely scenarios, given that the electoral system will vary from one election to another. In those of this Sunday, the current bonus – of up to 50 deputies – does not apply to the winning party that facilitated solo executives; In the case of a second election, the winner will be able to count on that bonus. So ND has few incentives to seek a government agreement, because his loot would be much greater: in case of repeating the result, he would have an absolute majority assured. The party was already speaking this Sunday night of the end of June as the most probable date for the new vote.
During the campaign it has been seen little predisposition to agree on the part of all parties. The legal reform, promoted by Syriza during his time in government, sought precisely to force the parties to reach agreements among themselves.
Mitsotakis addressed the Greeks shortly after 10 p.m. The New Democracy leader assured that the results show that he has popular approval to head a monocolor government, according to Al Jazeera.
“Political Earthquake”
After receiving Tsipras’s congratulatory call, the prime minister described his victory as a “political earthquake” and thanked voters for their support. “Greece needs a government that believes in reformsand that cannot be done with a weak government,” he said.
Mitsotakis, whose expectations of victory due to the economic recovery of the country – which grew by more than 6% last year – were put in doubt after the protests that caused the train accident that cost the lives of 57 Greeks in February, consolidates as one of the main pillars of the European People’s Party. The result reinforces his heavy-handed policy with immigrants –Greece is one of the main gateways into Europe- and underlines the acceptance of the rise in the minimum wage, up to 780 euros, which he promoted in March.
The conservative leader has focused his entire campaign on the economy. Tsipras, for his part, combined demands that the underprivileged classes benefit from the country’s recovery with accusations against the government of railway management and other corruption scandals. For example, for spy on political rivals and journalists with hidden listening devices.
#Elections #Greece #Greek #caresses #power #doubling #Syriza #elections