Mitsotakis' party ahead in polls as Greece heads to re-elections
Greece will go to the polls again on Sunday for a repeat of the elections that failed to produce a result on May 21. According to the polls, New Democracy, the party of former Prime Minister Mitsotakis, has a majority over the main opposition SYRIZA.
On Sunday, Greeks will go to the polls for parliamentary elections. Opinion polls show former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party winning by a wide margin over the leftist Syriza party, which ruled in 2015-2019 at the peak of the Greek debt crisis.
MAY 21 ELECTION
New Democracy won the May 21 elections by a 20-point margin over Syriza, but fell short of the majority needed to govern alone due to the proportional voting system.
After Mitsotakis rejected a coalition, saying that Greece needed a strong and stable government to pursue necessary reforms, the other parties decided not to form their own coalition, forcing the country back to the polls.
Mitsotakis then stepped aside for the country to be run by a caretaker government, as required by the constitution.
NEW DEMOCRACY AHEAD IN POLLS
Opinion polls conducted since then show New Democracy (ND) widening its lead further ahead of Sunday's vote.
A poll conducted by RASS polling agency published on June 19 put ND at 42.9% versus 17.9% for Syriza, and showed it winning a comfortable 166-seat majority in the 300-seat parliament.
The Socialist PASOK party ranked third with 12.3%.
Opinion polls suggest that up to seven parties could enter parliament, including the leftist Plefsi Eleftherias, founded by former Syriza lawmaker Zoe Konstantopoulou, and a newly set up far-right party called Spartans.
HOW THE SYSTEM WILL WORK IN THE ELECTIONS?
In repeated elections, parties need to get at least 3% of the vote to enter parliament for a four-year term.
Under this new system, the winning party gets 20 seats outright if it gets at least 25% of the vote, and can get up to 50 seats if it gets about 40% of the vote.
Over 9.9 million Greeks aged over 17 are eligible to vote.
Source: Reuters
