About 9.8 million Greeks will go to the polls this Sunday (21) for parliamentary elections, which will also define the country’s next prime minister. Of this contingent of voters, around 440,000 are aged between 17 and 21 and can vote for the first time.
For the first time, Greeks living abroad will also be able to vote, without having to return to Greece.
The main leaders in the race for the Greek government are the current prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, of the New Democracy party, and his predecessor, Alexis Tsipras, of the left-wing Syriza party.
The 300 seats of Parliament are at stake. Currently, Nova Democracia holds a majority of 158 seats.
In third place in the race is Nikos Androulakis’ centre-left Pasok-KINAL, or Movement for Change. Greece’s third largest party, it secured 22 seats in 2019 and, if it maintains a good performance, it will be crucial for the definition of the new cabinet if a coalition with several parties is necessary.
Nova Democracia is ahead of Syriza in opinion polls. But Sunday’s election may not produce an outright winner because of a new voting system. A second vote could take place in early July unless a coalition is formed.
Covid-19 and high inflation, triggered by the war in Ukraine, which has soared energy bills, has taken a toll on households still reeling from a decade of austerity, while economic growth is expected to slow to 2.3% this year from 5 .9% in 2022.
The Mitsotakis government has spent more than 50 billion euros on relief measures since 2020, boosted pensions and raised the monthly minimum wage by 20% to 780 euros to cushion the cost of living crisis.
During his four-year term, he also focused on limiting illegal migration, maintained a tough stance on disputes with Turkey over refugees and maritime borders, and strengthened relations with the United States while supporting Ukraine militarily.
He has survived censure motions tabled by the leftist opposition, including over a wiretapping scandal, and faced public anger at the government over a recent train crash that killed 57 people.
(Posted by Fábio Mendes, with information from Reuters)
Source: CNN Brasil
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