21 May – Greek conservatives were leading over the leftist Syriza in elections on Sunday, a joint exit poll by six polling agencies showed as quoted by Reuters.
The exit poll gave the conservative New Democracy party between 37.5-41.5% of the vote versus 23.5-27.5% for the Syriza party, which governed the country in 2015-2019, at the peak of Greece’s financial crisis.
But even if the New Democracy wins the most seats, Mitsotakis will still not win outright and have to seek coalition partners to form a majority government or choose to head to a new election.
Given the deep divides between Greek political parties, negotiations are likely to be thorny, making a second vote likely in late June or early July.
While dozens of parties were contesting the election, the vote has primarily pitted Mitsotakis and his center-right party against Syriza, whose leader is also a former prime minister.
“The party ranking first needs over 45% of the electorate in order to create a single-party administration, something which it seems is quite unlikely,” political analyst Panos Koliastasis told Reuters news agency.
Mitsotakis, 55, has been quick to point out his government’s achievements in recent years, including cutting taxes on businesses and also individuals. Speaking after he cast his ballot, he urged voters to choose the stability he says he represents.
“Today we are voting for our future, for more and better jobs, for a more efficient health care system, for a stronger country with an important role in Europe and protected borders,” he said.
Leading the opposition is 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, a former prime minister and the current firebrand leader of the left-wing Syriza party, whose campaign has focused heavily on the rail disaster and wiretapping scandal.
On Sunday, Tsipras said the election day was “a day of hope.”
“The citizens have in their hands the possibility … to change the course of the country, to leave behind a difficult four years of inequalities, injustice, profiteering, job insecurity, auctions, indignity for pensioners, the targeting of the youth,” he said, describing the current administration as “arrogant.”
Greece has been hard-hit by a cost of living crisis which has been a central theme in political campaigns leading up to the vote, as parties try to attract voters with promises of job creation and better wages. /argumentum.al
