Right-wing former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the clear favorite in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Greece, which he hopes to win by securing an outright majority to form “a stable government”. Facing him, the leader of the left Syriza, Alexis Tsipras, promised to fight “until the last second” despite the bitter rout of his camp in the previous election on May 21.
Polling stations opened at 07:00 local time (04:00 GMT). Exit polls will be published when the polls close at 7 p.m. local time (4 p.m. GMT).
Big favorite in the polls, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head of government from 2019 at the end of May, won a big victory five weeks ago by winning 40.8% of the vote. Syriza’s double. But this advance, the magnitude of which surprised analysts, did not bring him the absolute majority required to form a government without having to forge an alliance.
Coming from a large family of political leaders, the leader of New Democracy (ND) had ruled out building a coalition and called for new elections. The latest polls this time give the right between 37.8% and 45% of voting intentions.
For Syriza, which recorded only 20.07% of the vote on May 21, a drop of 11.5 points compared to 2019, the decline could be further accentuated. Predictions put it between 16.8% and 20%.
The former Harvard student and right-wing leader, who first made a career in finance in London, is counting on a voting system that this time gives the winning party a “bonus” of up to at 50 seats.
The 55-year-old leader faces two potential pitfalls. On the one hand, the possible weariness of voters, who have been called to the polls twice in five weeks and who could favor the beaches on this summer Sunday, on the other hand, the crumbling of votes, in particular on the right of the Conservatives where three small formations compete for the votes of far-right sympathizers.
They must register at least 3% of the votes to send deputies to sit in parliament. However, the number of parties represented in the Vouli will arithmetically have consequences on the number of seats allocated to New Democracy. “No one knows how many parties will enter parliament (…). Between 5 and 8 parties, no one knows, “said Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Saturday, according to close sources quoted by the Greek agency ANA.
On Friday, he raised the specter … of a third ballot in the heart of summer when most Greeks take their holidays. “I hope we don’t have to see each other again at the beginning of August”, he thus dropped on the Skaï television channel, adding: “it’s not a joke! »
