Greece: the right in the lead, a slap for the left

” It is a disaster ! Despina, a 64-year-old retiree who is active in Syriza, the left-wing party led by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, does not mince words. On this evening of legislative elections, she came to hear the results of the ballot at her party’s stand, located in Klafthmonos Square, in Athens. The place is symbolic. Literally, this place of the “Pleureurs” owes its name to a historical fact: until 1911, the date on which the guarantee of public employment was enshrined in the Constitution, the civil servants who lost their position at each alternation went there to shout their misfortune. Today, Despina mourns the results of her party there.

36 parties in the running

It is 7 p.m. when, on the television screens, a blue wave appears, the color of New Democracy (ND). In power for four years, the right-wing party led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis would collect between 36 and 40% of the vote, ahead of Syriza, credited with 25 to 29% of the vote.

Behind them, the social-democratic party Pasok-Kinal would collect between 9.5 and 12.5% ​​of the vote, and the KKE, the very dogmatic Greek communist party, between 6 and 8%. Then, a small far-right party, Greek Solution, should maintain its presence in the Vouli, the Greek parliament, with a score ranging from 3.5 to 5.5% of the vote. Two other parties will perhaps cross the 3% mark necessary to sit in the Vouli: MeRA25, led by former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis (between 2.5% and 4.5%), and Cap vers la liberté, by the former president of Vouli, Zoe Konstantopoulou, credited, according to Sunday estimates, between 2.2 and 4.2% of the vote. Of the 36 parties that submitted lists, seven could enter parliament.

Despina cannot explain the results. “We know that this government has been eavesdropping on journalists and politicians, that the cost of living has increased dramatically and that public contracts have been awarded secretly. »

The strategy of the left questioned

In the corridors of the headquarters of Syriza, Place de la Liberté, everyone still hopes that the final results will be better. They feel, deep down, that the wind blowing is that of defeat. In a short speech, Alexis Tsipras appears and asks to be ready for “the next elections”. But the heart is not there. It is the strategy of the left that is called into question.

On the terraces of the surrounding taverns, there is consternation. Valia, 24, is a waitress and “would have voted Syriza” if she could. Not by membership, but, says the young woman, “because they are the least bad”. For her, the economic situation in Greece is not good. “People like me live in difficult conditions… I think I will go abroad again,” she explains. Since the start of the crisis in 2010, around 500,000 Greeks have left the country.

other elections

From now on, only one question arises: can a government be formed? The distribution in number of seats obliges to form a coalition. But Kyriakos Mitsotakis, enjoying momentum, could head for a second election. With an electoral law granting a bonus to the winner…