Greece: The first poll gives Kyriakos Mitsotakis the right to win

The outgoing Prime Minister’s right-wing party came out on top Elections Greece on Sunday, according to exit polls, but Kyriakos Mitsotakis may have difficulty forming a stable government as he lacks an absolute majority.

New Democracy (ND), which has been in power for four years, will win between 36 and 40% of the vote, ahead of the leftist party SYRIZA, led by former prime minister Alexis Tsipras, which will win between 25 and 29%. According to these polls released at the end of polls, TV channels polled. Behind them will be the socialist party Pasok-Kinal with 9.5 to 12.5% ​​of the vote.

A new ballot could be called for in early summer

The first part results will be out in the next couple of hours, but if ND’s score is confirmed, it won’t let him rule alone. However, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is seeking a four-year re-election, has ruled out forming a coalition in a country without a political culture based on compromise.

If a government is unlikely to be formed in the next two weeks, as many analysts predict, a new election should be called and held in late June or early July. The winner of this second vote will benefit from a bonus of up to 50 seats, likely to give him a stable majority.

During his election campaign, the conservative leader, a Harvard graduate and son of a former prime minister, consistently touted his economic record. On Sunday, after voting in Athens, he vowed to make Greece “a strong country with an important role in Europe”.

“We’re going from bad to worse”

With falling unemployment, growth of nearly 6% last year, a return to investment and a surge in tourism, the economy has bounced back after a severe crisis and European rescue plans. But the decline in purchasing power and difficulties in meeting the needs are the main concerns of the people who have made painful sacrifices over the last ten years.

Many Greeks have to work for low wages and have lost faith in public services that have been severely cut after intensive weight loss treatments. The country is still saddled with a public debt of more than 170% of its GDP. Inflation came close to 10% last year, compounding the hardships of the people. “We are going from bad to worse. We are working to survive,” laments Giorgos Antonopoulos, 39, a shop worker in the country’s second city, Thessaloniki.

The mandate is riddled with scandals and authoritarian slippages

Critics of Kyriakos Mitsotakis accuse him of an authoritarian slide since he came to power. His tenure was marred by scandals, Illegal wiretapping Deporting immigrants to police violence. In March, the European Parliament condemned “serious threats to the rule of law and fundamental rights” in Greece, according to Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld.

Greece, under the EU, is also regularly accused of sending back migrants to Turkey, according to Reporters Without Borders’ annual ranking of press freedom. On Friday, the American newspaper “New York Times” published a video attesting to such illegal practices, which Athens strongly denies.

(AFP)Show comments