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Having hinted on Tuesday at the possibility of a third election, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized that if his center-right party fails to win an outright majority in the June 25 election, then a third ballot is almost a foregone conclusion.

Greek Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis greets supporters after announcing the first results of the Greek elections at the party's HQ in Athens, 21 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGE VITSARAS

With nearly all votes counted in Greece's general election, ruling New Democracy was on course for a resounding lead of nearly 21% early Monday morning.

I recently asked an opposition SYRIZA official to name one good thing the New Democracy government has done these past four years. He paused for a few seconds and then tried to dodge the question, basically refusing to say anything positive about Kyriakos Mitsotakis' term in office.

With the election campaign entering the final stretch, the confrontation between ruling New Democracy and PASOK has also intensified, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, in all his recent interviews, having particularly harsh words for Nikos Androulakis.

As the election campaign heats up, political parties are poring over opinion polls, those made public and those privately commissioned, to calibrate their tactics.

Each party, and this includes the ruling center-right New Democracy, which has been leading steadily in opinion surveys, has found cause for anxiety in examinging the data.

Program announcements, candidate lists and the exploratory mandates, which will commence on the evening of the May 21 elections, will be the focus in the coming days of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the leaders of opposition SYRIZA and PASOK, Alexis Tsipras and Nikos Androulakis.   

The shadow of the loose or protest vote is hovering over ruling New Democracy and main opposition SYRIZA as surveys show that a large chunk of the electorate remains undecided or plans to abstain or cast a blank or invalid ballot in the May 21 national election. Indicatively, the latest Pulse poll for Skai TV showed this percentage approaching 16.5%.

With elections looming, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras are seeking to rally their traditional voters and hunt for the undecided ones who will largely shape the final correlations in the first ballot of simple proportional representation.

The political dispute between the government and the official opposition is shaping up as a clash between action and identity, between management and accusations, between reality and fairy tales. Common to both sides are their cynicism and the hyperbole with which they attack each other.