New elections in Greece
Conservatives can also govern this time
06/25/2023, 9:50 p.m
After the election in May, the formation of a government fails. That is why the Greeks have to go to the polls again. They are once again making the conservative Nea Dimokratia the strongest party. This time she can also rule.
According to preliminary results, the conservative party Nea Dimokratia (ND) led by former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has clearly won the parliamentary elections in Greece. Based on around 69 percent of the votes counted, she scored 40.4 percent on Sunday – almost the same result as the previous vote in May. The largest opposition party, the left-wing Syriza under Alexis Tsipras, came to 17.8 percent. In May she had secured 20 percent of the votes.
Because the strongest party in this election receives at least 20 additional seats in the 300-member parliament, according to the electoral law, the conservatives can form the future government with a majority of around 160 seats. The election is the second ballot within five weeks: after the Conservatives had been in office for four years since 2019, there were already parliamentary elections in Greece in May. However, no coalition and thus no government came about, which is why a new election had to be held.
Despite the electoral success, Mitsotakis cannot rest on the laurels that have been earned so far. Domestically, he has to modernize the ailing Greek health system – which he promised during the election campaign. The state is also to be further streamlined and digitized. In addition, Mitsotakis must prove that he is not only business-friendly, but that the country’s progress is also worthwhile for the people.
Is Syriza on the verge of an upheaval?
After the severe financial crisis in the country, Greeks are still among the poorest citizens in the EU. And finally, it is important to come to terms with the re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in terms of foreign policy. He had repeatedly threatened the Greeks militarily in recent years.
Ex-Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the left-wing party Syriza are facing difficult times. After five electoral defeats, the question of the future leadership of the party is likely to arise. There were already calls for his resignation after Syriza’s dramatic collapse in the May elections. However, Syriza is heavily tailored to Tsipras. Although there are well-known, popular politicians in their ranks, none of them have officially prepared them for a leadership role.
In addition to ND and Syriza, the social democratic Pasok with 12.2 percent (May: 11.5 percent), the Greek Communist Party KKE with 7.5 percent and the radical right-wing Spartiates party with 4.7 percent will also be in parliament. The right-wing populist party Elliniki Lisi also made it into parliament with a provisional 4.6 percent. In addition, the ultra-Orthodox party Niki is expected to be represented with 3.8 percent of the parliament. The radical left-wing small party Plefsi Eleftherias has to worry about entering parliament with 3.1 percent (May: 2.9 percent). Far behind was the Mera25 party of former left-wing finance minister Giannis Varoufakis with 2.3 percent.