© Reuters. A man walks past an election banner of the leader of the left-wing Syriza party Alexis Tsipras ahead of the general elections on Sunday, in Athens, Greece, June 24, 2023. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov
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By René Maltezzo and Lefteris Papademas
ATHENS (Reuters) – Greece’s conservative New Democracy party has a strong lead in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, in which former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is set to win a second term, a poll showed.
The poll, conducted jointly by six polling companies for Greek TV stations, showed the New Democracy party leading with 40-44% of the vote, with the left-wing Syriza party trailing with 16.1-19.1%.
The projection, based on early results, is expected to be between 1730 and 1800 GMT.
Sunday’s vote is the second in the past five weeks. The first poll on May 21, conducted under a different electoral system, failed to give one party an outright majority in the 300-seat parliament. The system used in Sunday’s ballot awards additional seats to the leading party depending on voter support.
In last May’s poll, New Democracy held a twenty-point lead over Syriza, which ruled Greece from 2015 to 2019.
Opinion polls in recent days show New Democracy winning around 40% of the vote, with Syriza headed by Alexis Tsipras winning around 20%, which is roughly the same as the May 21 poll.
Mitsotakis, who was prime minister from 2019 until he stepped down in favor of a caretaker prime minister after an inconclusive vote in May, has vowed to press ahead with reforms to rebuild the country’s credit rating in the wake of a debilitating decade-long debt crisis.
Mitsotakis, a former banker and scion of a powerful political family, has pledged to increase revenues from the vital tourism industry, create jobs and raise wages close to the EU average.
The COVID-19 pandemic and a fatal train crash in February also exposed the shortcomings of the public health and transportation systems. Recently, however, the cost of living crisis and economic hardship have topped voters’ concerns.
“I expect a lot (from the new government),” retired Giorgos Katzimertzis told Reuters.
“The main thing is the health system, the economy, so we can live (decently) because things are hard. I’m retired, I was in the fire brigade, and now I don’t have a dime.”
Sunday’s elections were held in the shadow of a migrant shipwreck this month in which hundreds are feared dead off the coast of southern Greece. One of the worst such debacles in years, it has exposed the parties’ divisions over immigration.
The shipwreck disaster has dominated campaigning in the run-up to this election.
Rescuers found 104 survivors and recovered 82 bodies, but it is believed that up to 750 people were packed onto the ramshackle ship heading from Libya to Italy. The Greek coast guard kept shadows on the boat and said the passengers had rejected all offers of help.
Mitsotakis, whose administration has taken a hard line on immigration, blamed “wretched smugglers” for the disaster and praised the coast guard for saving people. Tsipras wondered why the coast guard had not intervened earlier.
