Greek parliamentary elections: who will win?
The Greeks will elect a new parliament on Sunday. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' ruling conservative Nea Dimokratia party slumped in the polls after the train crash in March, but is still in the lead. In second place is former PM Alexis Tsipras with his left-wing opposition alliance Syriza.
Environmentalists have no option
The social democratic-green alliance Prasino+Mov was not admitted to the election for formal reasons. Columnist Xenia Kounalaki laments in Kathimerini the absence of green positions on the electoral lists:
“The absence of a green party in Sunday's elections would have been justified if the environment had been on the agenda of the other parties, making single-issue grouping unnecessary. ... But in the televised duel [with the leaders of the six parliamentary parties], environmental issues were barely raised by the participating politicians and journalists. They were included in the party programmes mainly out of a sense of duty, just like feminism and inclusion - terms that remain without substance in the public debate.”
Young voters are decisive
Young Greeks can and should counter the polls, the left-wing daily Efimerida ton Syntakton urges:
“The 432,000 first-time voters aged up to 21 and the 1.4 million young people aged up to 29 who live in great uncertainty have every reason to be worried. They have good reason to worry above all because their main concerns were virtually absent from the election debate. The outgoing government is largely responsible for this. ... Young people remain angry about the Tempi crime. ... New voters who don't have a landline and aren't included in the old-fashioned polls could change everything on Sunday.”
Without a hint of self-criticism
The left-leaning news website Imerodromos mocks the performances of the two leading candidates in the TV debate, Mitsotakis and Tsipras:
“Despite his 'outstanding achievements', the head of Nea Dimokratia avoided all calls to assess his own track record. But he had no problem whatsoever boasting about his government's work. ... At the same time he defended the government's decisions, which have left the people with punishingly high prices, wage cuts, a healthcare system in tatters and an education system that is being relentlessly commercialised and privatised - and a democracy that has made wiretapping and informers its trademark. For his part, the leader of Syriza has 'forgotten' everything, as if he were not the prime minister of the third memorandum.”
Mitsotakis as the guardian of stability
Pro-government web portal Liberal comments on Wednesday's televised debate:
“Mitsotakis came across as the guardian and guarantor of stability, implicitly making promises for bolder and faster reforms in the areas of economy, state, justice, health, education and environmental protection. By stressing the implementation of his 2019 election promises as a sign of credibility, the Nea Dimokratia leader aimed to strengthen the conviction of a significant part of the electorate that he has a plan and can implement his promises with moderation and savvy.”
Threat of an autocratic, Orbán-style regime
Mitsotakis must not only lose, he must also face justice, writes the left-leaning Avgi:
“The darkness, the omertà [mafia code of silence], the impunity and the transformation of the Greek Republic into an authoritarian regime à la Orbán will continue if Nea Dimokratia wins so much as one vote on 21 May. Democratic change is imperative. The Mitsotakis government bears the moral and political stigma of illegal surveillance and the rape of democracy by trying to control the independent authorities and the judiciary. The outgoing prime minister himself chose to turn the country into a spy state. ... The acts that are now being denounced must have judicial consequences.”
Syriza light on policy
Protagon has harsh words for Syriza:
“The party has focused its entire opposition strategy on Mitsotakis, but the poll numbers categorically refute its claims. In choosing this line it neglected the rest, especially any form of level-headed programmatic discourse. Tsipras himself is still trying to dance at two weddings. On the one hand he presents himself as a moderate politician who has matured and learned from his mistakes. On the other he retains elements of the old hard-line Syriza. And he's made another mistake: if you portray the opponent as a demon who is to blame for everything, you chafe away at your own credibility and make your programmatic deficit clear.”