Bis repeated in Greece. Voters are indeed called to the polls for the second time in just over a month. And former right-wing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is a big favorite in this Sunday’s legislative elections, which he hopes to win by winning an absolute 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 7 a.m. Exit polls will be released when the offices close at 7 p.m.
Mitsotakis side wants to win alone
The big favorite in the polls therefore, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, head of government from 2019 at the end of May, had won a big victory five weeks ago by winning 40.8% of the vote. Syriza’s double. But this advance had not brought him the absolute majority required to form a government without having to forge an alliance. The leader of New Democracy (ND) had ruled out building a coalition and called for new elections.
The latest polls 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. Forecasts place it at between 16.8% and 20%.
A risk of voter fatigue
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a former Harvard student who first made a career in finance in London, is counting on a voting system which this time grants the party that came out on top a “bonus” of up to 50 seats. But the 55-year-old leader faces two potential pitfalls.
On the one hand, the possible weariness of the voters, called twice to the polls in a short time. On the other hand the crumbling of the voices in particular on the right of the conservatives where three small formations dispute the votes of the sympathizers of the extreme right. 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.
Tsipras worries about social gains
In May, by largely turning away from Syriza, the Greeks showed that they definitely wanted to turn the page on the years of bitter financial crisis and bailouts on drastic conditions that have considerably impoverished them. Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also continued to brandish his economic record, marked by growth of 8.3% in 2021 and 5.9% in 2022 and falling unemployment.
But Alexis Tsipras, former prime minister (2015-2019), warned against giving Mitsotakis a “blank cheque” to carry out a “hidden agenda” of policies undoing social gains.