The incumbent Prime Minister was able to achieve a share of the vote of around 41 percent on Sunday evening.
(Photo: Reuters)
Athens The parliamentary elections in Greece on Sunday evening saw a clear victory for the conservative Nea Dimokratia (ND) of incumbent Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. However, Mitsotakis has not yet achieved his election goal, an absolute majority of seats in the new parliament.
According to the counting results on Sunday evening, the ruling party achieved a share of the vote of around 41 percent. Mitsotakis thus surpassed his result from the 2019 election, in which he achieved 39.9 percent.
The result came as a surprise, as the latest opinion polls put Mitsotakis at 36 percent. According to the projections, the radical-left alliance Syriza of opposition leader Alexis Tsipras remained eleven percentage points below the result of 2019 at 20 percent.
In the new parliament, the ND should account for 146 of the 300 parliamentary seats. In order to form a government, Mitsotakis would therefore be dependent on a coalition partner.
However, the 55-year-old prime minister had already declared during the election campaign that, for reasons of political stability, he was aiming for a continuation of the single-party government that has been in office for four years. He is therefore counting on new elections, which could take place at the end of June or beginning of July.
Between reform course and wiretapping affair
During the election campaign, Mitsotakis campaigned for his pro-business reform course, which in recent years has brought the country increasing investments and some of the highest growth rates in the EU. The conservative government has reduced taxes and duties over the past four years.
More than ten billion euros flowed to private households last year as energy subsidies and inflation compensation. At the same time, Greece has been able to reduce its debt ratio more than any other EU country in the past two years.
However, the economic policy successes are overshadowed by a wiretapping affair. The secret service, which reports directly to Mitsotakis, eavesdropped on dozens of entrepreneurs, military officials, journalists and politicians.
A serious train accident that killed 57 at the end of February also led to a loss of confidence. The disaster revealed major safety deficiencies and nepotism at the state railway company OSE.
Moreover, the government’s macroeconomic gains have not yet caught on with many people. Mitsotakis raised pensions and the state minimum wage, but inflation eroded the increases. Many families today have less purchasing power than they did two years ago because of inflation.
According to the projections, the opposition leader achieved 20 percent with his radical left alliance Syriza.
(Photo: Bloomberg)
The opposition leader Tsipras brought up these topics again and again during the election campaign. He promised a complete change of direction. The 48-year-old Tsipras wants to massively expand the welfare state and nationalize large parts of the banking and energy sectors.
However, conservative politicians and many independent economists doubt whether the left-wing opposition’s program can be financed and warn of the danger of Greece slipping back into a debt spiral. This prospect also seems to have put off many voters.
A coalition government led by Mitsotakis would be mathematically conceivable. But Greece has not had good experiences with government alliances. The few coalitions formed in the past usually broke up again quickly.
If the parties cannot agree on a government alliance, a new election would have to be held in a few weeks. Then an electoral law would apply that would give the strongest party a bonus of up to 50 seats when allocating seats. An absolute majority would be possible with around 38 percent of the votes.
More: How southern Europe is struggling with the climate crisis