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Greek parliamentary elections: a final look at the parties and the polling

Bertsou, E. & Brown, S. (2015) “Greek parliamentary elections: a final look at the parties and the polling“, LSE EUROPP, 23 January.

 

On 25 January Greece will hold parliamentary elections. Ahead of the vote, Eri Bertsou and Stuart Brown take a final look at the election, providing an overview of the Greek party system, the latest polling, and some of the key contextual factors such as the impact of the financial crisis on the Greek economy and the attitudes of citizens toward the European Union.

The Greek parliamentary elections scheduled for 25 January have generated almost as much attention across the rest of Europe as they have within Greece. With the Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza) maintaining a consistent polling lead throughout the short campaign, there has been intense speculation over what a Syriza victory could mean for the Greek economy, the country’s participation in the euro, and even the future of the Eurozone itself. Ahead of the vote, this article takes a final look at some of the key figures on previous elections in Greece, the current polling, the country’s economy, and Greek attitudes toward the European Union.

The Greek party system ahead of the 2015 elections

Prior to the 2012 parliamentary elections, Greece essentially had a two party system, with the centre-left Pasok competing against the centre-right New Democracy for control over the country’s government. Following the Greek debt crisis, which started in 2009, support for Pasok collapsed and a multitude of smaller parties began to challenge the existing order. Chief among these was Syriza, which managed to firmly establish itself in second place behind New Democracy during both of the elections held in 2012 (in May and June) by mobilising support on the basis of an anti-austerity, and anti-memorandum platform. Syriza then followed this up in 2014 by gaining the largest vote share in the country’s European Parliament elections. Figure 1 below shows the development of party support from 2007 until 2012.

 

Figure 1: Percentage vote shares and seats for selected parties in Greek parliamentary elections (2007 – 2012)

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