New Democracy party

Leader of New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis greets people at a rally in Thessaloniki, Greece, 21 June 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ACHILLEAS CHIRAS

Almost a month ago, Mitsotakis emerged as the big winner of May 21 elections, taking 40.83 per cent of the vote and leaving his main rival, Alexis Tsipras, and the left-wing party SYRIZA far behind on 20.07 per cent.

Following is the political backdrop to Greece's parliamentary election on Sunday. Opinion polls show former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party winning by a wide margin over the leftist Syriza party, which ruled in 2015-2019 at the peak of the Greek debt crisis.

May election

Former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' conservatives appear set to win a repeat election in Greece on Sunday after an inconclusive vote on May 21, putting him back in office.

Migration Reform

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson speaks to the media prior to the European Home Affairs Ministers Council meeting in Luxembourg, 08 June 2023. EPA-EFE/JULIEN WARNAND

The New Democracy party, which is poised to win the June 25 election, is planning for a more flexible pension reduction regime for retirees who still want to work, with the aim of legalizing their employment, but also of staffing businesses that are unable to fill job vacancies with experienced employees.

The surveillance of Koukakis' phone turned out to be the tip of an iceberg whose scale only began emerging last summer, as the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was swamped with claims that it had spied on the phones of journalists, opposition politicians, oligarchs and top state officials.

A new poll has predicted a seven-party Parliament while giving New Democracy a strong lead over SYRIZA.

Hercules famously completed 12 labors. Today's Greece resembles the mythological hero when he was halfway through his tasks. The country has done a lot of work to rebuild itself after its debt crisis, but still needs to finish the job.

Following the results of the May 21 polls, where New Democracy party secured a resounding victory, the election period leading up to the second ballot is focusing on the individual parameters of the party programs.

Party staffs, meanwhile, are on the lookout for misstatements, verbal exaggerations or signs of ignorance from their political opponents.

Despite its resounding victory in the May 21 election, the ruling New Democracy party does not take winning an outright majority in Parliament after the June 25 election for granted, despite a favorable electoral law that offers a significant seat bonus to the winner.