by Angeliki Koutantou
ATHENS, June 23 (Reuters) – Former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to quickly return to his post as head of Greece’s government after Sunday’s parliamentary elections, in which the Conservatives are the heavy favourites.
New Democracy, the party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, won a large victory in the general elections on 21st May last, but did not reach the threshold enabling it to form a new government on its own.
Failing success in post-election negotiations to form a coalition cabinet, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou called new elections on Sunday and appointed a transitional Prime Minister, the President of the Court of Auditors Ioannis Sarmas.
With a twenty percentage point lead over its closest rival, the left-wing Syriza party, in power from 2015 to 2019, New Democracy seems well on its way to obtaining an absolute majority in Parliament and reappointing Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Prime Minister since 2019, in its functions.
Especially since the new ballot will have the particularity, unlike the previous one which was based on full proportional representation, of granting a majority bonus to the winner.
The polls give New Democracy and Syriza about the same percentages of votes as last May, more than 40% for the conservatives and about 20% for the party of Alexis Tsipras.
The election campaign was beset by the sinking of a migrant boat with hundreds of people on board on June 14, arguably one of the worst maritime disasters in recent history, which exposed the divisions of two major Greek parties on the migration issue.
According to observers, the controversy that ensued over the role played by the coast guard probably benefited Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
“(The debate) helped New Democracy because Syriza’s first instinctive reaction was to cast doubts on the coastguard, while New Democracy emerged as the protector of the borders,” political analyst Apostolos said. Pistols.
Rescuers rescued 104 people but up to 750 people are believed to have been on board the ship which sank in the Mediterranean. The coastguard, which followed the boat before the tragedy, said the occupants had rejected all its offers of help.
The disaster overshadowed other major issues before the May 21 elections, including the cost of living and the rail accident last February, which highlighted the shortcomings of the public transport system. . (French version Jean-Stéphane Brosse, edited by Blandine Hénault)
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