Live Blog: Greek Parliamentary Elections 2023
- 9,813,595 million Greek citizens are eligible to vote in the elections; Greeks living abroad have already cast their votes.
- Running for office are 32 parties, four coalitions of parties and two individuals standing as independents.
- Voters are deciding whether to give another four-year mandate to the New Democracy party led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who has been prime minister since 2019.
- Parliamentary elections were also held on May 21, with New Democracy secured 40.83 per cent of the vote and Mitsotakis's main rivals, Alexis Tsipras and the left-wing party SYRIZA party, getting 20.07 per cent. But neither political leader accepted the president's mandate to form a coalition government, making new elections necessary.
- Today's elections are being held under the 'enhanced' proportional representation electoral system adopted by the New Democracy-led government, which gives bonus parliamentary seats to the party that comes first.
- Favoured by the financial markets, Mitsotakis is seen as a safe pair of hands in turbulent times, his popularity apparently undented by public anger over low wages, rising prices, a scandal over the surveillance of politicians and journalists and a deadly train crash widely blamed on state mismanagement.
- If the May election results are repeated, Mitsotakis will get a majority, but the lack of a strong opposition representation in parliament to hold the government accountable could become a problem for Greek politics.
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