Sunday’s general election in Greece, coming just five weeks after a previous indecisive contest, has delivered a clear victory for the conservative New Democracy party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis. New Democracy had significantly outdistanced its chief rival, Syriza, in the May election, but did not win an overall majority. The second contest was run under different rules, which awarded a bonus in seats to the leading party. Mitsotakis should now be able to govern comfortably for the next four years.
New Democracy has been rewarded for its economic record since 2019, when it replaced the radical left government of Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza, voted out of office after what was seen as its inept handling of Greece’s debt crisis and eventual forced acceptance of a severe austerity package. Under Mitsotakis, economic progress has been impressive, with the country recovering quickly from the Covid crisis to record GDP growth of 4.9 per cent last year. Unemployment, at 11 per cent, is still high, but has fallen in each of the last nine years.
Syriza, the main opposition party, has lost vote share in each of the last four elections, with the gap between it and its rival Pasok gradually narrowing as the social democrats slowly recover. After a campaign in which Tsipras brought Syriza nearer the centre but failed to convince the electorate that he had a plausible economic programme, his leadership of the party, and its future direction, are likely to come under scrutiny.
While New Democracy’s economic stewardship has been positive, its authoritarian tendencies, including spying on journalists, and its harsh treatment of refugees, are of deep concern. An effective parliamentary opposition is essential. This can only come from Syriza and Pasok, no longer politically so far apart. A low turnout on Sunday also worked to the benefit of a number of small “anti-system” parties, from hardline communists to populists, religious conservatives and neo-Nazis. While extreme politics clearly still appeals to many voters, none of these groups is ever likely to have much to contribute to stability or prosperity in Greece.