2023-05-21 07:05:09
Holding elections in Greece is no longer a drama. In yet another example of the political normalization achieved after leaving behind the hardest period of the economic crisis, which came close to causing the country’s bankruptcy and its exit from the euro zone, the Greeks go to the polls today in a relaxed atmosphere despite the fact that it is not at all clear that the elections will allow the birth of a government. At the moment, the schools have opened an hour ago to receive the nine million voters summoned, among whom the 17-year-olds who will reach the age of majority in 2023 will debut.
The polling stations will close at seven in the afternoon (6:00 p.m. in Spain) and from there a vote count will begin which, if it follows the pattern of previous electoral appointments, will be quite fast. In reality, the impression is that there is little to tell, so that one of the most important uncertainties lies in the level of abstention. Forecasts tend to indicate that today many Greeks will stay home or go out to enjoy the holiday, but they will not go to the polls tired of the crisis and fed up with the politicians.
polls
The polls predict the victory of the outgoing prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, candidate of the center-right New Democracy party, although it seems difficult for him to achieve an absolute majority that would allow him to repeat a lone Executive.
The blame lies with the pure proportional electoral system with which this appointment with the polls is held, designed by the previous prime minister, the leftist Alexis Tsipras. The Syriza leader would be between six and seven points below the conservatives, according to the polls, as he was weighed down by the bad memory that the government left of him in a large part of the population and by the division in the leftist vote.
Faced with this panorama and the headaches that an alliance with the socialists of Pasok, a foreseeable third force, could cause him, Mitsotakis seems determined to force the elections to be repeated at the beginning of July. They would be convened with the previous electoral law, which provides for a prize of 50 deputies for the most voted list to facilitate the formation of the Executive. «If Mitsotakis manages to get above 35% but does not reach an absolute majority, he will interpret the results as a point of strength and we will go to new elections, because it is not worth it for him to settle for a coalition cabinet now. It makes sense for him to wait two months and then control Parliament,” explains Emmanuil Tsatsanis, a professor of political science at the University of Athens. “If, on the other hand, he remains below 35%, Mitsotakis will have to think twice about repeating the elections and could explore the possibility of a coalition government with Pasok, provided that the numbers between the two are sufficient for it” .
The wiretapping scandal
The scandal in which, a few months ago, the prime minister’s entourage was involved for allegedly ordering the secret services to conduct wiretaps on thirty soldiers, journalists and politicians does not help to create a climate of confidence that allows for the construction of this alliance. . Among them was Nikos Andrulakis, the new leader of Pasok. Fortunately for Mitsotakis, that scandal seems almost as forgotten by a large part of the electorate as the railway accident last February, which caused the death of 57 people, mostly university students who were returning home after a vacation period.
«The train disaster seemed like it could cost Mitsotakis re-election, but he was right to delay the calling of the elections for a month. The great theme of the elections is the economy. People want wages to rise, to recover what was lost during the long crisis and to maintain a normal relationship with the EU. And for that they trust New Democracy more than in the other parties, “says the professor at the University of Athens.
Tsipras has not made it easy for his compatriots to return to give him the reins of the country. He first misled left-wing Greeks by asking far-right voters who once trusted the now-outlawed neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party. He then found himself forced to contradict another of the Syriza heavyweights who announced a tax hike for the self-employed should they come to power.
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