Thanks to the 50 seats given to the first party in the 300-seat parliament, New Democracy came to power alone in the general elections in July 2019, winning 158 seats with 39.85 percent of the vote.
Mitsotakis’ party gained 146 seats by increasing its votes to about 41 percent in yesterday’s elections, in which the system was changed and the practice of giving extra seats to the first party was abolished, but it aims to take the voters back to the polls for power alone.
According to the election results, New Democracy failed to secure a sufficient majority in the parliament to form a government on its own.
In the new electoral system, if a coalition cannot be formed and in the second ballot box, at least 20 seats should be given to the first party, provided that the vote rate exceeds 25 percent; For every 0.05 percent increase in the vote rate exceeding 25 percent, an extra parliamentary seat is envisaged. This number can go up to 50.
Mitsotakis is preparing to go to the polls for the second time to come to power alone
In this case, Mitsotakis has two options. To go to a coalition that will provide the 5 seats necessary to form a government or to go to the ballot box for the second time and take the extra seats foreseen for the first party and come to power alone.
Mitsotakis, in his statement after the first unofficial results were announced last night, interpreted the result of the ballot box as the people’s desire for a strong government. Mitsotakis, who said that he will carry out the coalition-building process stipulated by the constitution, said, “From tomorrow, we start working for the elections.” By saying that, he actually finished the coalition process before it started.
Commenting on the public’s support for New Democracy, Mitsotakis commented that he pointed out that “the government wants to continue its work”. said.
Election victory of New Democracy in the press
In the pre-election polls, New Democracy was the first party and the main opposition Radical Left Alliance (SYRIZA) was the second party, but the difference was limited to 6-8 percent.
The results from the ballot box revealed that this difference was about 20 percent.
As much as the victory of New Democracy, the fall in SYRIZA’s votes was also noteworthy.
SYRIZA’s vote share, which was 31.53 percent in the general elections in July 2019, dropped to 20 percent after four years of main opposition.
New Democracy was the first party in 58 of 59 constituencies across the country. Only in the Rhodope region, which includes Komotini, SYRIZA finished ahead.
The Greek press commented that “Mitsotakis’ victory” for the election results, in which New Democracy had twice the vote rate of SYRIZA.
Kathimerini newspaper carried the headline “Mitsotakis’ victory, SYRIZA’s fall”.
While Ta Nea newspaper used the headline “Mitsotakis and the Sovereignty of New Democracy”, it included the subtitle “SYRIZA and the collapse of Alexis Tsipras”.
The Apogeumatini newspaper used the phrases “The Giant Victory of New Democracy”, the Manifesto newspaper “Strong appointment to Mitsotakis for the second term”, and the Political newspaper “Mitsotakis’ Victory, Tsipras’ Collapse” in its headlines.
The pro-SYRIZA newspaper Avgi, on the other hand, carried the headline “Change for the next challenge” on its black-colored home page, and carried the assessment that the result was extremely negative for SYRIZA.
Four bumpy years
The Mitsotakis government has faced many unexpected problems since the day it came to power.
The COVID-19 epidemic, the energy crisis that emerged after the war in Ukraine and the related economic problems, forest fires, floods, the irregular immigrant problem, the train accident that resulted in the death of 57 people, the frequently rising tension with Turkey, and the snowfall caused thousands of vehicles to be stranded on the highway. These were just some of the issues faced during the New Democracy rule.
Faced with many problems during the four-year rule, New Democracy asked the voters, “Tsipras or Mitsotakis?” asked the question.
SYRIZA, which came to power by saying that it was against the signing of memorandum agreements with the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) during the economic crisis, and signed the memorandum even though the people said no to the memorandum in the 2015 referendum, could not convince the voters.
Entering the 2019 elections as the Movement for Change (KINAL) alliance, PASOK participated in the 2023 elections under the name PASOK-KINAL alliance. The alliance increased its vote share from 8.10 to 11.46 percent.
One of the differences between the 2019 and 2023 election results was the number of parties that entered the parliament. While 6 parties entered the parliament in 2019, the number of parties entering the parliament in the 2023 elections remained at 5.
Post-election process
Although New Democracy outstripped its closest competitor by a large margin, it did not get the chance to rule alone.
According to the constitution, it is foreseen that the president will give three days for the 3 parties that received the most votes in the elections, respectively, according to the rate of votes they received, but after Mitsotakis’ statement yesterday that winked at the ballot box for the second time, all 3 parties in the Greek press were asked to form a coalition from the President. Evaluations are made that he will return the job on the day they take their job.
Disappointment and signal of change in SYRIZA
“The election result is extremely negative for SYRIZA,” said SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras. he said.
Noting that he called Mitsotakis and congratulated him, Tsipras said, “There are wins and defeats in races.” said.
Stating that SYRIZA’s party organs will convene immediately and evaluate the results, Tsipras said in his statement, “The election process is not over yet, as there will be a second ballot. made statements.