The Prime Minister of Greece, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has announced that the next legislative elections will take place on May 21, in which his party, New Democracy, will aspire to remain in power despite the introduction of a new electoral system that makes it difficult to obtain clear majorities in the first place.
Mitsotakis confirmed the date during a government meeting on Tuesday, stressing that »the country and its citizens need clear horizons». The Executive thus culminates the legislature, since it has margin to complete the renewal of the Parliament until July.
Greece will debut a pure proportional representation system that favors the formation of coalitions and the Prime Minister has warned of the risk that, in the first round, there will be no clear winner. According to Mitsotakis, the May 21 vote will serve to decide »who governs», implying that he would have the right to repeat in power if his party is the most voted.
If after this first vote no government can be formed, Greeks will be called again to the polls, in a second election in which a semi-proportional system promoted by the current authorities will be applied. According to Mitsotakis, in this second appointment — »at the latest at the beginning of July–», it will be determined »how the winning party governs».
New Democracy is the favorite in the polls, but the opposition, led by the SYRIZA of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, has closed the gap after the latest social mobilizations, triggered mainly by the February 28 train crash that resulted in 57 deaths, according to local media.
The conservative leader has defended that »Greece is a much better place in 2023 than it was in 2019», when New Democracy took power. Thus, despite the fact that »mistakes could have been made», Mitsotakis has asked citizens to renew their confidence in the current Executive to continue »changing» the country.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
