Greece: Kyriakos Mitsotakis' right wins the general elections

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: ANGELOS TZORTZINIS / AFP 19:00 pm, May 21, 2023

The outgoing prime minister's right-wing party came out ahead in Sunday's elections in Greece, according to exit polls, but Kyriakos Mitsotakis may struggle to form a stable government due to a lack of an absolute majority. New Democracy, in power for four years, is due to win between 36 and 40% of the vote ahead of the left-wing Syriza party of former head of government Alexis Tsipras, which is due to win between 25 and 29% of the vote, according to these polls published at the close of polling stations by television channels.

Behind them the socialist party Pasok-Kinal is due to win between 9.5 and 12.5% of the vote. The first partial results are due to be published in the next two hours but if ND's score is confirmed, it would not allow it to govern alone. However, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who wants to be reappointed for four years, has ruled out forming a coalition in a country whose political culture is not based on compromise.

The Greek economy is recovering ...

For his part, Alexis Tsipras made appeals to the leader of the socialist party Pasok-Kinal, Nikos Androulakis, for an alliance but the latter made demands. If it is impossible to form a government in the next two weeks, as many analysts predict, a new election will have to be called and should be held in late June or early July. The winner of this second election would then benefit from a bonus of up to 50 seats that could give him a stable majority.

>>

READ ALSO – Greece comes out of the reinforced surveillance of the European Commission

During his election campaign, the conservative leader who graduated from Harvard and the son of a former prime minister, did not stop brandishing his economic record. On Sunday after voting in Athens, he said he wanted to make Greece "a stronger country with an important role in Europe". "We are voting for our future, for more jobs and better jobs, for a more efficient health system," he said, accompanied by two of his three adult children.

Falling unemployment, growth of nearly 6% last year, return of investments and soaring tourism, the economy has recovered after years of acute crisis and European rescue plans. His opponent, who embodied in 2015 the hopes of the radical left in Europe, wanted to see in these elections "a day of hope" to "turn the page of four difficult years" with a government "arrogant and not interested in the most numerous".

... But the country remains heavily indebted

The decline in purchasing power and the difficulties in making ends meet remain the main concerns of a population that has made painful sacrifices over the past ten years. Many Greeks have to make do with low wages and have lost confidence in public services that have been reduced to a crawl after drastic weight loss cures. The country is still basking under a public debt of more than 170% of its GDP. And inflation approached 10% last year, further aggravating the difficulties of the population.

"We go from bad to worse. We are just working to survive," said Giorgos Antonopoulos, 39, a shop worker in Thessaloniki, the country's second largest city. At the end of February, the rail disaster that killed 57 people revived the anger that has plagued Greece since the crisis and triggered protests against the government accused of negligence. Kyriakos Mitsotakis' critics accuse him of an authoritarian drift since he came to power. His tenure has been marred by scandals, from illegal eavesdropping to migrant pushbacks and police violence.

>>

READ ALSO – Rail accident in Greece: the France helps to improve the Greek railway network

In March, the European Parliament denounced "serious threats to the rule of law and fundamental rights" in Greece, according to Dutch MEP Sophie in't Veld. Greece, the EU's laggard in press freedom in Reporters Without Borders' annual index, is also regularly accused of turning migrants back to Turkey. On Friday, the New York Times published a video attesting to such illegal practices that Athens vehemently denies.