Greece is holding today (May 21, 2023) a general election
Read our full pre-elections analysis here, more on Xekinima position here and our contribution about the developments in the Left here.
Internationalist Standpoint will cover the developments around the elections and will provide live updates, starting from 7pm local time (CET+1). Once every hour we will provide information and comments. Our posts will be shared in this article, which will be updated hourly.
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00:30am
We are closing the live updates for the night. Follow our website tomorrow for a full balance sheet of the May 21 Greek elections.
00:15am
Some election night comments by political leaders:
–K. Mitsotakis: “The dynamics are more than clear, the citizens want a government with a four-year horizon, so that we can make up for the lost ground that separates us from Europe. I know how much work we still have ahead of us. A government cannot emerge from uncertain parliamentary coalitions. I will follow all the procedures descried by the Constitution. The people have approved the choice of a New Democracy government of absolute majority”. That means that Mitsotakis will not favour a coalition government and will ask for new elections (at the end of June or the beginning of July)
–A. Tsipras: “The election result is extremely negative for SYRIZA… We must immediately make all the changes that are needed in order to give the best possible conditions to the next crucial and final electoral battle”. Tsipras hints at a beginning of a process of leadership change.
–Varoufakis: “Tonight the Erdoganization and Orbanization of the country was made complete. Mitsotakis Corp won by a landslide. This is largely due to SYRIZA, which has been burying the simple proportional representation system by not accepting our proposal for two years now for an electoral partnership on a common front for a rupture, resulting in this incredible tsunami of conservatism”
The parliament seats are split as follows:
10:00pm
A comment on the election results so far:
NOTE- the results are not final, they can slightly change.
New Democracy seems to secure an easy victory, keeping its previous result (39,85 in the 2019 elections). From the statements of most of its cadres, it seems that it will not seek to form a coalition government and lead the country in new elections in order to secure an absolute majority in parliament.
SYRIZA has suffered a very heavy defeat, losing 10% from its 2019 result. PASOK has made a comeback, getting 3% more, and presents itself as a crucial player in the center-left space.
KKE has seen a small increase in percentages, but not as big enough as they hoped for.
The far-right has seen its forces grow. Greek Solution has gone from 3,7% to 4,5% and the newcoming far-right Victory party almost 3%. But here we have to take into account that Golden Dawn and some of its splits (GD got almost 3% in 2019) were not able to stand this time (they were de-qualified by the Supreme Court).
One of the bad results from this election is that MERA25 (Varoufakis’ DiEM25) seems to fail to cross the 3% threshold and enter parliament. On the other hand, Freedom Course of Zoi Konstantopoulou, had a surprisingly good outcome.
9:00pm
The Interior Ministry estimate, based on 40% of the vote counting is:
New Democracy: 41% (right wing current government)
SYRIZA: 20% (center-left)
PASOK: 11,7% (traditional social democracy)
KKE: 7,2% (Communist Party of Greece)
Greek Solution: 4,5% (far right)
Victory: 2,9% (new far right formation)
Freedom Course: 2,8% (Left-wing populism, led by the former lead of parliament under SYRIZA Zoi Konstantopouloy)
MERA25: 2,5% (Varoufakis’ DiEM25)
NOTE: the ministry gives a deviation of +/-0,5%, so the results can change significantly, especially as regards how many parties enter the parliament (ie cross the 3% threshold).
8:45pm
In 32% of the vote counting:
55,9% participation
New Democracy: 41,1% (right wing current government)
SYRIZA: 20% (center-left)
PASOK: 12,6% (traditional social democracy)
KKE: 6,8% (Communist Party of Greece)
Greek Solution: 4,5% (far right)
Victory: 2,9% (new far right formation)
Freedom Course: 2,6% (Left-wing populism, led by the former lead of parliament under SYRIZA Zoi Konstantopouloy)
MERA25: 2,3% (Varoufakis’ DiEM25)
NOTE: the first results are coming from the smalest and more far away polling stations in which the right wing traditionally has more voters; the results will change as the big cities’ polling stations come through
8:20pm
Exit poll final (100%) sample:
New Democracy: 37,5 – 41,5% (right wing current government)
SYRIZA: 23,5 – 27,5% (center-left)
PASOK: 11,5 – 12,5% (traditional social democracy)
KKE: 6,5 – 7,5% (Communist Party of Greece)
Greek Solution: 4,3 – 5,3% (far right)
MERA25: 2,5 – 4,5% (Varoufakis’ DiEM25)
Freedom Course: 2,5 – 3,5% (Left-wing populism, led by the former lead of parliament under SYRIZA Zoi Konstantopouloy)
Victory: 2,5 – 3,5% (new far right formation)
NOTE: There is a 3% threshold in order for a party to enter the parliament
7:50pm
The preliminary exit poll results show an 82% voter mobilisation by New Democracy (compaired to the 2019 elections), and an 62% voter mobilisation by SYRIZA.
7:00pm
The ballot boxes closed at 7pm local time. No significant irregularities were reported, except an incident in a small city where people were being paid to vote for a certain candidate. The first reports signal a high abstention rate, following the really low-key pre-election period.
Some first exit poll results, although one every 2,5 people refused to answer to the exit polling companies:
In 80% of the exit poll samples-
New Democracy: 36 – 40% (right wing current government)
SYRIZA: 25 – 29% (center-left)
PASOK: 9,5 – 12,5% (traditional social democracy)
KKE: 6 – 8% (Communist Party of Greece)
Greek Solution: 3,5 – 5,5% (far right)
MERA25: 2,5 – 4,5% (Varoufakis’ DiEM25)
Freedom Course: 2,2 – 4,2% (Left-wing populism, led by the former lead of parliament under SYRIZA Zoi Konstantopouloy)
