2023-06-25 09:31:02
The 21,500 polling stations in Greece opened their doors at 07:00 local time (04:00 GMT) this Sunday so that the about 10 million citizens summoned to the polls elect a new Parliament and Government.
According to polls, seven of the total of 30 parties that are running in these general elections have the possibility of exceeding the required threshold, of 3% of the votes, to enter the Greek Parliament, of 300 seats.
New Democracy, favorite
The conservative New Democracy (ND) formation of Kyriakos MitsotakisGreek Prime Minister for the last four years, part as favorite with 40% of voting intention20 points ahead of the leftist Syriza party, of former head of government Alexis Tsipras (20%), according to polls.
These are identical percentages to those that the two parties received in the May 21 elections, although this time it would be enough for the conservative leader to receive 39% to gain an absolute majority in Parliament.
And this thanks to a bonus of up to 50 seats to the winning party, which had been eliminated in the last elections in May, after which all attempts to form a government in Greece failed.
In third place, with 12%, is the Social Democrat Entry-Kinalfollowed by communist party (6.5%) and the nationalist Greek Solution (4%).
Two parties would achieve parliamentary representation for the first time: the formation Freedom Cruiseof the former Syriza deputy Zoe Konstantopulu (4%), and the far-right and anti-system NIKI (Victoria), by theologian Dimitris Natsios (3.5%).
Mitsotakis sells himself as the “only option” for “a stable government“
The conservative Mitsotakis presents himself as the “only option” to form “a stable government” to keep the country on the path of growth, in order for Greece to make a “big leap towards Europe” in the coming years in terms of wages and living standards.
Tsipras advocates for an economy “that works for everyone” and after the debacle of the May elections – Syriza lost a third of its support compared to 2019 – it asks for the vote to remain a “strong opposition party”.
Although the conservative leader 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 have arrived.
If Mitsotakis wins an absolute majority tomorrow and forms a government, He would be the first Greek head of government to be re-elected after a four-year term since the outbreak of the financial crisis in 2010.
After twelve hours of opening, the polls will close at 7:00 p.m. (4:00 p.m. GMT).
The first results are expected an hour and a half later and by 9:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT) it will be known with some certainty how many seats each party will receive -and if New Democracy wins an absolute majority-, said Mijalis Stavrianudakis, secretary general of the Ministry of Interior, to public television ERT.
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