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Greek conservatives on course for landslide election victory Greek PM Alexis Tsipras calls rival to concede election defeat
(32 minutes later)
Greece’s centre-right opposition seems poised to win a resounding victory in a snap general election after a nationwide exit poll showed it leading by double digits over Alexis Tsipras’s incumbent leftwing Syriza party. The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, has called the opposition leader, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to congratulate him on victory in the general election on Sunday, an official of Mitsotakis’s party has said.
New Democracy was projected to receive between 38% and 42% of the vote, which would be enough to secure a majority in Greece’s 300-seat parliament. The official said the handover of power would take place on Monday after Mitsotakis’s swearing in as prime minister.
Syriza, which has governed Greece in coalition since 2015, appears on course for between 26.5% and 30.5%, according to the poll commissioned by Greece’s TV broadcasters. Official election projections showed Mitsotakis’s conservative New Democracy party winning 39.8% of the vote, compared with the governing leftwing Syriza party’s 31.6%.
A second national exit poll, for SKAI TV, showed New Democracy on course to garner anywhere between 38.5% and 41.5%, compared to 27-30% for Syriza. The Movement for Change alliance was in third place on 6.5-8%. The projections also had the extreme right-wing Golden Dawn close to missing the 3% threshold needed to enter parliament.
The former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’s MeRA25 was on course for as much as 5% of the vote, putting it ahead of the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, which appeared to be struggling to cross the 3% threshold to get into parliament. Yiannis Theodoropoulos, of SingularLogic, the company compiling official election results for the Greek interior ministry, said the projections showed New Democracy on course for 158 of the 300 seats in Greece’s parliament, a comfortable governing majority.
The former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis’s MeRA25 was on course for as much as 5% of the vote.
New Democracy officials described the result as “historic” and a personal victory for Mitsotakis, a former banker who has been at pains to reform the party since assuming the helm three years ago. Not since 2007, two years before Greece descended into economic crisis and prolonged recession, will New Democracy have had such a presence in parliament.New Democracy officials described the result as “historic” and a personal victory for Mitsotakis, a former banker who has been at pains to reform the party since assuming the helm three years ago. Not since 2007, two years before Greece descended into economic crisis and prolonged recession, will New Democracy have had such a presence in parliament.
The final results were expected to be announced by the interior ministry at 9pm local time (7pm BST).
Tsipras called the vote three months ahead of schedule after Syriza’s staggering defeat in European parliament elections in May. New Democracy routed the leftists by 9.5 percentage points – a margin of victory not seen since European elections were first contested in Greece in 1981.Tsipras called the vote three months ahead of schedule after Syriza’s staggering defeat in European parliament elections in May. New Democracy routed the leftists by 9.5 percentage points – a margin of victory not seen since European elections were first contested in Greece in 1981.
Sunday’s election was billed as transformational: the winning party will form the first post-bailout government after almost a decade of unprecedented recession. Kept afloat by international rescue funds since 2010, the thrice-bailed-out nation has been forced to endure punishing austerity in return for remaining in the eurozone. Sunday’s election was billed as transformational: the winning party will form Greece’s first post-bailout government after almost a decade of unprecedented recession. Kept afloat by international rescue funds since 2010, the thrice-bailed-out nation has been forced to endure punishing austerity in return for remaining in the eurozone.
Casting his vote in the working class district of Peristeri, the 51-year-old Mitsotakis expressed optimism. “Today all Greeks take the fortunes of the country in their hands and I am sure that tomorrow a better day will dawn for all,” he said, smiling broadly.Casting his vote in the working class district of Peristeri, the 51-year-old Mitsotakis expressed optimism. “Today all Greeks take the fortunes of the country in their hands and I am sure that tomorrow a better day will dawn for all,” he said, smiling broadly.
New Democracy’s revival has been linked to Mitsotakis’s efforts to entice centrists and to the conservatives’ ability to siphon off votes from Golden Dawn by taking a tough stance on immigration and on an accord struck by Tsipras settling a long-running name row over Macedonia, Greece’s neighbour to the north.New Democracy’s revival has been linked to Mitsotakis’s efforts to entice centrists and to the conservatives’ ability to siphon off votes from Golden Dawn by taking a tough stance on immigration and on an accord struck by Tsipras settling a long-running name row over Macedonia, Greece’s neighbour to the north.
The poll was the first to take place at the height of summer since 1928, and there were worries that many would miss the vote, preferring to go to the beach or remain at home rather than traipsing to polling stations in temperatures expected to reach 40C.The poll was the first to take place at the height of summer since 1928, and there were worries that many would miss the vote, preferring to go to the beach or remain at home rather than traipsing to polling stations in temperatures expected to reach 40C.
Twenty parties contested the race for seats in the 300-member parliament. Speaking on television shows on Sunday morning, analysts mused that the vote could be swung by hundreds of thousands of younger Greeks “deciding to go to the beach or polling stations”. Smaller parties such as the ultra-nationalist Greek Solution and leftist MeRA25 had younger Greeks as their target groups.Twenty parties contested the race for seats in the 300-member parliament. Speaking on television shows on Sunday morning, analysts mused that the vote could be swung by hundreds of thousands of younger Greeks “deciding to go to the beach or polling stations”. Smaller parties such as the ultra-nationalist Greek Solution and leftist MeRA25 had younger Greeks as their target groups.
“Voting once every four years is not enough for democracy,” Varoufakis told reporters as he emerged from a polling station in a coastal area of southern Athens. “Democracy belongs only to those who have the courage to defend it. Today, the only way to defend it is by voting on the basis of parties’ programmes and records, Congratulations to all those citizens who get off their sofas and vote.”“Voting once every four years is not enough for democracy,” Varoufakis told reporters as he emerged from a polling station in a coastal area of southern Athens. “Democracy belongs only to those who have the courage to defend it. Today, the only way to defend it is by voting on the basis of parties’ programmes and records, Congratulations to all those citizens who get off their sofas and vote.”
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