EUROFASCISM

Landslide win for Conservatives in Greek elections - exitpolls

Greece's conservative New Democracy party won a landslide victory in the country's second election in five weeks Sunday, official projections based on early returns showed, gaining enough parliamentary seats to form a government for a second four-year term.

Issued on: 25/06/2023 

Kyriakos Mitsotakis' party is projected to win 40.5 percent of the vote, with his main rival, the left-wing Syriza party, suffering a crushing defeat with just under 18 percent projected support, even worse than its 20 percent in the last elections in May.

Sunday's vote came just over a week after a migrant ship capsized and sank off the western coast of Greece, leaving hundreds of people dead and missing and calling into question the actions of Greek authorities and the country's strict migration policy. But the disaster, one of the worst in the Mediterranean in recent years, did not affect the election, with domestic economic issues at the forefront of voters' minds.Greek coastguard under scrutiny over handling of migrant ship disaster

The projections indicate Mitsotakis’ party will win enough of Parliament’s 300 seats to form a stable government thanks to a change in the electoral law that grants the winning party bonus seats. The previous election in May, conducted under a proportional representation system, left him five seats short of a majority despite winning 41 percent of the vote.

In all, eight parties are projected to surpass the 3 percent threshold to enter Parliament, including a far right party and ultra-religious party. The number of parties that make it into Parliament will affect how many seats the winner will hold.

Mitsotakis, 55, campaigned on a platform of securing economic growth and political stability as Greece gradually recovers from a brutal nearly decade-long financial crisis.

His main rival, 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019 — some of the most turbulent years of Greece’s nearly decade-long financial crisis. If the exit poll projections are confirmed, his performance Sunday leaves him fighting for his political survival. After his poor showing in May elections, he had struggled to rally his voter base, a task complicated by splinter parties formed by some of his former associates.

Speaking after voting in a western Athens neighborhood, Tsipras seemed to accept his party would be in opposition for the next four years even while the voting was still ongoing.

“This crucial election is not only determining who will govern the country, it is determining our lives for the next four years, it is determining the quality of our democracy,” Tsipras said. “It is determining whether we will have an unchecked government or a strong opposition. This role can only be played by Syriza.”

Mitsotakis, a Harvard graduate, comes from one of Greece’s most prominent political families. His late father, Constantine Mitsotakis, served as prime minister in the 1990s, his sister served as foreign minister and his nephew is the current mayor of Athens. The younger Mitsotakis has vowed to rebrand Greece as a pro-business and fiscally responsible euro zone member.

Sunday's vote is being held under an electoral system that grants a bonus of between 25 and 50 seats to the winning party, depending on its performance, which makes it easier for a party to win more than the required 151 seats in the 300-member parliament to form a government.

(With newsagencies)

Conservative New Democracy party led by Mitsotakis wins landslide victory in Greek elections

Country embraces right-wing parliament comprising far-right, populist, neo-Nazi parties along with conservative party

Ahmet Gencturk |25.06.2023 -TRT


ATHENS

In Greece’s general elections on Sunday, the conservative New Democracy party led by former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis won a landslide victory with 98% of the votes counted so far.

According to the results announced by the Interior Ministry, the New Democracy party won 40.56% of the votes, with SYRIZA gaining 17.83%, down from 20.07 % from previous elections held on May 21.

The New Democracy won an outright majority in the parliament to form a single-party government with the 158 seats it secured in the 300-seat parliament.

The social democratic PASOK party received 11.86%, while the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) became the fourth largest with 7.67% of the votes.

Meanwhile, the far-right Spartans party, which was openly backed by imprisoned lawmaker Ilias Kasidiaris of the banned neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, won over 4.68% of the votes and entered the parliament for the first time.

Also, the far-right, populist Greek Solution party and the far-right, religious Niki (Victory) party were others that passed the 3% electoral threshold and entered the parliament, with 4.45% and 3.70%, respectively.

The polls also show that the Sailing for Freedom party founded by former Parliament Speaker Zoe Constantopoulou secured seats in the parliament with 3.17%, while the MeRA25 led by SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras’ former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis stayed out of the parliament with 2.46%.

The turnout rate in Sunday's elections was only 52.75%, down from 61.1% in the May 21 elections.

Reactions by party leaders

Addressing his supporters in front of the party building, Mitsotakis said they will rule the country without arrogance and will accelerate the reforms.

Accepting the defeat, which he called "heavy," SYRIZA leader Tsipras stressed that three far-right parties will be in the new parliament.

He added that the party will undergo a serious change in the face of the election defeat.

PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, in his brief speech, underlined the rise of neo-Nazis and extremists in the country's political scene.

Similarly, KKE's leader Dimitris Koutsoubas noted the strong presence of the far-right parties, saying the days will be tough but that they will be at the forefront of the struggle against capitalist-class and imperialism.

Vassilis Stigas, the head of the Spartans party, thanked Kasidiaris for his support, which, he said, played a significant role in the party's unexpected victory.

Dimitris Natsios, the leader of the another extreme-right party Niki, said in a statement that they will fight for Hellenism and common people.