IPA Newspack
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets

IPA /

IPA Special

IPA Special

Greece National Elections On May 21 To Witness Stiff Contest Between Right And Left

By Satyaki Chakraborty

Greece is going for national election on May 21 this year as the Prime Minister of the Centre Right New Democracy Party Kyriakos Mitsotakis met the President and proposed the dissolution of the Parliament. The President accepted and fixed May 21 as the date for elections. Next month’s legislative elections will be the country’s first under a proportional representation system.

Greece had for some had a coalition government headed by the leftwing Syriza with the support of the Communist Party of Greece known as KKE. The KKE differed with the major Left party Syriza on a number of issues related to workers rights and austerity measures. The coalition government could not continue. The present centre right government is in power since then.

Latest opinion polls show that the present centre right New Democracy Party will not be in a position to get a majority on its own and it will require the support of the other non Left parties. Most of the surveys indicate a difference of 4 to 6 percent between the present ruling party and the opposition, the main of which is Syriza. The present prime Minister led a single party government but he might not get this advantage next time after the polls even if his party emerges with largest single majority.

Apart from Syriza, the opposition parties include Panhellenic Socialist Movement and the fourth largest party is the Communist Party of Greece (KKE). But with the declaration by the KKE that the Party will not take part in any coalition with Syriza after the polls, has dashed all hopes of a solid left wing government after the May 21 elections. In fact, this stand of KKE is sure to help the ruling centre right prime Minister to improve his position in the coming days before the elections as without KKE as partner, Syriza has little chance to form a new government.

KKE general secretary, Dimitris Koutsoumbas, told the Athens media “The fact that we do not take part in an anti-popular government with Syriza or any other party of the system does not mean that we do not embrace popular people, honest militants who believed in those parties in the past, were disappointed by them and today see hope only in the KKE.”

In fact Prime Minister Mitsotakis exuded confidence while announcing the decision at the cabinet meeting by saying ‘the country and its citizens need clear horizons. The national elections will be held at the end of the four year term as I had committed from the start”. The conservative New Democracy Party Government’s four year term expires in July this year.

While opinion polls show Mitsotakis’ New Democracy in the lead over the main opposition left-wing Syriza party, the gap has narrowed following a rail disaster on February 28 that killed 57 people, stirring public anger. The government’s lead has narrowed to 4 percent, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls.

The May 21 vote will take place under a new proportional representation system, making it difficult for any party to gather a majority. Two rounds of voting are likely, as Mitsotakis has repeatedly said he will try to secure a parliamentary majority — without resorting to a coalition government. “If a second round is needed to cancel the adventure of proportional representation, it will take place by early July at the latest,” Mitsotakis said.

Numbers suggest that based on current polling it will be almost impossible to form a majority government even after the second round and a coalition will be needed. The first party would need to get around 38 percent of the vote in the second round to form a thin majority.

Public anger following the deadly train crash joins other issues the Greek government is dealing with, including high inflation and food prices, financial wrongdoing by conservative MPs, a wiretapping scandal and a secret offer by Saudi Arabia to pay for football stadiums for Greece and Egypt if they agreed to team up and host the 2030 World Cup.

Many left wing observers feel that the Greece Communist Party is taking too rigid a position by ruling out any coalition with the left wing Syriza after the elections. The differences in programme between the Syriza and KKE are certainly there but there are commonalities also and they both fought against the austerity measures of the centre right government. In Spain, the communists are a part of the coalition and the communist labour minister is recognized as the most successful minister in the coalition headed by the Socialists. KKE could have followed that taking into account the present right wing tendencies in the European politics.

In fact, the same mistake was done by the Portuguese Communist Party some years back by withdrawing its support from the coalition government led by the Socialists.. In the national elections thereafter, the ruling Socialists did far better while the Communists lost heavily. Even the working class base for protecting which the PCP withdrew by refusing to agree to the budget, shifted to the Socialists in the elections. It is time that the Communist Parties of these countries take a wider view on Left unity against right on the line of the Spanish Communist Party. (IPA Service)

Politics

DMK to coordinate opposition unity efforts: Stalin

June 1, 2023
Politics

Modi blasts Cong for misleading poor, ‘guarantee habit’

June 1, 2023
Happening Now

Gehlot adds free power to pre-poll promises

June 1, 2023
Politics

Rahul holds session with Silicon Valley AI experts, entrepreneurs

June 1, 2023
Happening Now

Farmers call Khap Mahapanchayat for wrestlers

June 1, 2023
IPA Special

US Govt Putting Pressure On India To Join NATO+ As A Part Of Asia-Pacific Strategy

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

Political Outcome From Communal Cauldron May Not Favour BJP

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

No Real Truce Is Ready At Ending Gehlot-Pilot Infighting In Rajasthan Congress

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

Slowdown In Containerized Exports Poses Setback To Pro-Export Agenda

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

Sons Of First Joint Climbers Of Mount Everest Are Carrying The Legacy Of Their Fathers

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

Shiites And Not Jews Emerge As Touchstone Of Saudi Moderation

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

Kerala Govt To Move SC Against Centre’s Cut In Net Borrowings Ceiling

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

G7 Conclave Fails To Meet Commitment For Nuclear Weapons Abolition

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

Defection Of Lone Congress MLA In Bengal To TMC Angers Alliance Partner CPI(M)

May 31, 2023
Politics

Gehlot, Pilot patch-up success increasingly in doubt

May 31, 2023
Happening Now

World body condemns action against Indian wrestlers

May 31, 2023
Politics

Yechury appeals to Cong to supports AAP on ordinance

May 31, 2023
Politics

Mamata says Shah trip prompted by her own visit plan

May 31, 2023
Happening Now

Owaisi dares Centre to strike on China instead of Telangana

May 31, 2023
IPA Special

NITI Aayog Has Failed To Play Any Effective Role In Planning For Indian Economy

May 30, 2023

An appeal

The legacy of IPA, founded by Nikhil Chakravartty, the doyen of journalism in India, to keep the flag of independent media flying high, is facing the threat of extinction due to the effect of the Covid pandemic. Only an emergency funding can avert such an eventuality. We appeal to all those who believe in the freedom of expression to contribute to this noble cause.
Click here to learn more

Share

Reply

  • 0
More on IPA

US Govt Putting Pressure On India To Join NATO+ As A Part Of Asia-Pacific Strategy

May 31, 2023 3:56 pm | IPA Staff

By Arun Srivastava Narendra Modi’s yearning to be acknowledged as the world leader (Vishwa Guru) has landed India in a unpleasant quagmire endangering its identity...

IPA Special

Political Outcome From Communal Cauldron May Not Favour BJP

May 31, 2023 3:55 pm | IPA Staff

By Dr. Gyan Pathak BJP has broken its legs in Karnataka   assembly polls when it fell into the pitfalls of majority politics. The party, including...

IPA Special

No Real Truce Is Ready At Ending Gehlot-Pilot Infighting In Rajasthan Congress

May 31, 2023 3:09 pm | IPA Staff

By Sushil Kutty The latest Sachin Pilot-Ashok Gehlot patch-up will last till June 8 when disqualified Congress Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi returns from his...

IPA Special

Slowdown In Containerized Exports Poses Setback To Pro-Export Agenda

May 31, 2023 1:44 pm | IPA Staff

By K Raveendran There is a marked slowdown in the containerized exports from India, attributed mainly to a decline in consumer demand for Indian goods...

IPA Special

US Govt Putting Pressure On India To Join NATO+ As A Part Of Asia-Pacific Strategy

in IPA Special
May 31, 2023   ·  

Political Outcome From Communal Cauldron May Not Favour BJP

in IPA Special
May 31, 2023   ·  

No Real Truce Is Ready At Ending Gehlot-Pilot Infighting In Rajasthan Congress

in IPA Special
May 31, 2023   ·  

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Follow us on
Up Next: Nitish-Mamata Meet Is A Giant Leap In Opposition Bid For Maximum Unity Against BJP
©2020 -2021 India Press Agency, All Rights Reserved.
Newspack by India Press Agency | Statement of Ownership | Contact Us
logo
  • Home
  • now
  • politics
  • business
  • markets