Greek General Election: Ruling Party's Landslide Victory... Difficult to Form Single-Party Government

82% Vote Counted: Shinmindang 40.8% Votes
'50-Seat Bonus for First Party' Disappears, Difficult to Form Single-Party Government

The New Democracy Party (hereinafter New Democracy), Greece's sole ruling party, won a landslide victory in the general election held on the 21st (local time), but fell short of the number of seats required to form a single-party government. As a result, the possibility of a second general election being held in early July has increased.

According to major foreign media including the AP News, the results of the general election held that day (82% of votes counted) showed that the conservative-leaning New Democracy secured an overwhelming 40.8% of the vote, leading by more than 20 percentage points over the main opposition party, the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza), which governed from 2015 to 2019, ranking first in vote share.

The actual election results overturned opinion polls that predicted the gap between New Democracy and Syriza would be only 6 to 7 percentage points, with New Democracy achieving a victory beyond expectations. Despite New Democracy's landslide win, it failed to secure an outright majority of seats, leading to efforts to regain power through coalition formation.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will grant New Democracy, Syriza, and the third-largest party three days each to form a coalition once the final vote count is announced. If New Democracy fails to form a coalition, the second-largest party will be given a deadline to negotiate coalition formation. This process will continue to the third-largest party. If coalition formation fails, Greece will hold a second general election in early July.

Experts predict that New Democracy is likely to aim for single-party rule through the second general election. Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said, "(The election results) are overwhelming," adding, "It shows that New Democracy has received the people's recognition to govern strongly and autonomously." He also hinted at a second general election, stating, "Greece needs a government that believes in reform, which is impossible with a fragile government."

Prime Minister Michotakis of Greece.
Photo by Reuters Yonhap News

Greece will elect 300 members of parliament to lead the legislature for the next four years through this election, which saw a showdown between former and incumbent prime ministers. Since 1990, Greece has maintained a system that awards 50 'bonus' seats to the party with the highest vote count. Until now, even with a low vote share, the party that ranked first could relatively easily secure a majority and form a government. The fact that New Democracy won 39.85% of the vote in the 2019 general election and secured a majority of 158 seats was thanks to this system.

According to the revised election law enacted in 2020, this system was abolished for this election, and a single party must obtain at least 45% of the vote to govern alone. Until early this year, New Democracy was leading Syriza by double-digit margins in opinion polls and was poised for an easy victory, but a head-on train collision in central Greece in February that claimed 57 lives shook the political landscape.

As anger spread over the government and railway companies neglecting the aging railway system and causing the disaster, New Democracy's support rate continued to decline. In response, the Greek government postponed the general election, originally scheduled for April, by about a month, but New Democracy failed to secure an outright majority and will seek to regain power through a coalition.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis is credited with leading Greece's dramatic economic revival. Greece recorded a high economic growth rate of 8.4% in 2021 and maintained a solid growth rate of 5.9% in 2022, even amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.