Irredentism

Facing hunger and thirst are survivors of Cyclone Chido , in French archipelago Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. Authorities are continuing to search for survivors in the wreckage and fears are being expressed of thousands of victims.

The new tax bill was passed.

– New Democracy, PASOK, and SYRIZA in favor of the Prime Minister’s announcements at the Thessaloniki International Trade Fair with 12 tax cuts and 12 income increases

The Finance Ministry’s bill with 12 tax cuts and 12 income increases was approved by a majority.

Center-left PASOK has every reason to celebrate Sunday's result as it has increased its share of the vote by 50 percent over two election cycles.

The sense of elation was not least felt by its leader Nikos Androulakis, who has strengthened his hand.

New Democracy, SYRIZA and PASOK closed the election race on Friday with different goals in view of Sunday's ballot.

For conservative ND, the main goal is to secure a comfortable outright majority in the region of 158 seats. It believes that the votes of young people and voters who live in areas other than their constituencies are key to achieving this.

PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL) leader Nikos Androulakis interprets the result of the May 21 election, which gave the conservatives a 20-percentage point lead over the main opposition, as a failure of SYRIZA and categorically dismisses any possibility of cooperation with New Democracy, even if the latter does not secure an outright majority.

PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis emphasized again on Thursday that the party is not interested in forming a coalition with ruling New Democracy, "even if two or three seats are needed to form a government." 

A meeting of political party leaders convened by President Katerina Sakellaropoulou in a final attempt to form a coalition government after Sunday's inconclusive elections proved unsuccessful on Wednesday.

The good news is that a public discussion has started on how much the measures and benefits being announced by the political parties if they win the elections are going to cost. That said, the discussion tends to be limited to the old question: Where will the money come from?

The main opposition party is bracing for a defeat in the May 21 polls and PASOK has gone back to the "bad unionist" days of the 1980s, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday, insisting that an outright victory for the ruling conservatives is the only way forward for the country.

With the election campaign entering the final stretch, the confrontation between ruling New Democracy and PASOK has also intensified, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in all his recent interviews, having particularly harsh words for Nikos Androulakis.