Explainer: Greece’s election on Sunday: how the system works

Following is the political backdrop to Greece's parliamentary election on Sunday. 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 election

New Democracy won May 21 vote with a 20-point lead over Syriza, a margin Greece has not seen since the 1970s. But it fell short of the majority needed to rule alone due to a proportional voting system in place for that poll.

Mitsotakis did not seek coalition allies, saying Greece needs a strong and stable government to push on with necessary reforms. The other parties decided against forging their own coalition, leading the country to a repeat election.

Mitsotakis then stepped aside for the country to be run by a caretaker government, as required...