On Sunday 21st May some 9.8 million Greek voters are being called to ballot in a general election aimed at renewing the 300 MPs of the "Vouli", the Hellenic Parliament, for a period of four years.

Outgoing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 55, of the conservative New Democracy party, will try to maintain his majority. But that's without counting on his main opponent: Alexis Tsipras, 48, former prime minister, currently leader of the left-wing opposition and leader of the Syriza party. Also in the race is the candidate of the party "Pasok" (Movement for Change; Social Democrat) Nikos Androulakis, 44 years old.

If the voting intentions of recent months give the outgoing Prime Minister a lead of five to seven points, the latter may not have an absolute majority to form a government.

France 24 deciphers the main issues of the election with Filippa Chatzistavrou, assistant professor of political science at the University of Athens.

France 24: What to remember from outgoing Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' mandate?

Filippa Chatzistavrou: The government has worked to improve Greece's fiscal situation despite the pandemic. What is positive, on their side, is that the country's growth is on the rise. But this growth does not benefit society.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis has also relied heavily on the liberalisation policies of the Greek economy, with the emphasis on public and private partnerships. In the health sector, for example, despite the pandemic, it has pushed through reforms to facilitate the introduction of private services into the public hospital sector.

The government has also made labour law more flexible as much as possible, while at the same time passing measures that have made it more difficult to organize and discouraged unions from engaging in collective bargaining. But it is a little early to comment on the results of these measures with regard to unemployment, knowing that job insecurity remains increased. What is certain is that the issue of youth unemployment is catastrophic, and many are leaving. In reality, there have been no favourable policies targeted at social groups that suffer, are unemployed or have precarious work. When you have unemployment at 12-13%, it's not a good record.

This government has also placed a great deal of emphasis on security and order policies, through a reinforcement of personnel and the recirculation of police forces that have been set aside. There is, for example, the establishment of a university police, which is not present in all Greek public universities, but in major universities in Athens and Thessaloniki.

In terms of foreign policy, this government has a pro-NATO and pro-European stance. This has been seen especially since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, through collaboration with the United States and the sending of equipment to Ukraine. There was the Franco-Greek strategic agreement (in 2021, editor's note), as well as very sustained cooperation with Egypt and Israel – formed under the mandate of George Papandreou (Greek Prime Minister between 2009 and 2011, Editor's note) before the debt crisis, in order to contain Turkish regional expansionism in the Mediterranean.

What are the main issues at stake in the election?

There is the economic issue at the center of concerns: inflation, purchasing power, rents, but also the question of work, housing, including social housing that does not exist in Greece.

The second point is the construction of the future of Greek youth. Young Greeks between the ages of 18 and 25 have experienced a very high number of crises compared to other European countries: the debt crisis, unemployment, the refugee crisis, the rise of the far right, the pandemic, the university police and, in addition, the railway drama.

And the third point is the issue of corruption and scandals. To know if we are going to have governments that will carry out telephone tapping, control the press and the media, show repression or violence during demonstrations...

See also: In Greece, the economy, the main issue of the legislative elections

Is Alexis Tsipras likely to return as head of government?

Polls give New Democracy with an advantage of 5 to 6% over Alexis Tsipras. But these figures must be taken with caution. There are between 12 and 15% of undecided who will vote and decide at the last minute. There are other voters who are pretty much decided but who will exercise a 'cold vote', that is, a vote for a party, but not with their hearts.

Alexis Tsipras has a strategy of bringing together as much as possible in the centre and on the left. It also accepted MPs from other political persuasions. As a result, Syriza is a party that wants to address the whole of society, and that does not put forward a radical left identity, which is the historical origin of this political formation. What he is trying to do is reach different electorates.

He is a moderate reformist, who, if he finds himself in power, will put in place a whole series of social measures to heal the socio-economic wounds of Greece. But, apart from that, I don't think he will have an agenda that will break with the big issues that dominate Greece: its dependence on its productive model, the country's relations with the great powers and spheres of influence, or even on the decline of the Greek welfare state, which has been particularly accentuated in the last four years.

See also: Greece: the left organizes two days before the general elections

After reaching a record 42% in the 2019 legislative elections, is abstention still feared?

Yes, it is. To remedy this, there have been incentives by several parties for people to vote. But what will be interesting to observe is the youth vote. There has been a change in the law, which will allow young people to vote from the age of 17.

And young people seem to be very mobilized for several reasons: the history of the university police, which generated student demonstrations, as well as the tragedy of the train, where many victims were young.

Abstention should not be higher than usual, because there will be a proportional vote that should encourage people to vote, with the idea that their vote will be better taken into account. But youth should be one of the keys to this election.

Will the issue of the rail accident of 28 February weigh on public opinion?

The anger was very strong right after the tragedy. But today, it doesn't seem as strong as it used to be. I thought we would have had a lot more mobilizations. There were some right after the tragedy, but after that, everything fell back. There have been no strikes, no demonstrations, except for May 1, which is not new.

There is no forgetfulness (of the catastrophe). There is a big wound in society, which has left a greater impression on young people. But I would say that people are returning to the evils that gnaw at them in their daily lives. It is more the economic issue that should guide the voters' vote for Sunday's vote.

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