| Author (Corporate) | Cardiff EDC (Compiler) |
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| Publication Date | 2019 |
| Content Type | Overview |
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Summary: Reports, analyses and information relating to the snap legislative election held in Greece in July 2019. Further information: An early national election was called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras for 7 July 2019 following the defeat of his party in the 2019 European Parliament election in Greece and in local elections. All 300 seats in the Hellenic Parliament were contested. Of them, 250 were elected proportionally and 50 were awarded to the most voted party. The conservative New Democracy party led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis won the parliamentary election (39.8%). They won 158 seats, which more than double the party’s previous representation and became enough to form a single-party government (due to the bonus seats awarded to the winning party). The incumbent Syriza party collected 86 seats (31.5%). The far-right Golden Dawn party failed to overcome the 3% electoral threshold and was excluded from the new composition of the national parliament - this party first emerged at the peak of the country's financial crisis to become the third largest in the Greek legislature. Although Tsipras, who came to power in 2015, brought the country out of austerity-driven bailouts, Greek voters punished his high-taxation policies as well as the lack of security in central Athens. Some analysts also suggested that the North Macedonia name change deal, known as the Prespa Agreement, which ended a 27-year dispute over the country’s name, also negatively affected Syriza, especially in the northern part of Greece. New Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised to prioritise economic growth and new jobs by speeding up investments, to cut taxes and to privatise services in the country that is still feeling the effects of the 2008 financial crisis. He also called on young people to come back in Greece. The new cabinet was sworn in on 9 July. |
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| Subject Categories | Politics and International Relations |
| Subject Tags | National Politics, Parliamentary | Legislative Elections |
| Countries / Regions | Greece |
