Election

SYRIZA's choices of candidates for the local elections in October show that the party is out of touch with society. It is also heading fast toward a phase of introversion and contraction, leaving a vacuum in the opposition.

The election bans have started on May 4 according to the election calendar for the Presidential and 28th Term Parliamentary Elections, which will be held on May 14. Accordingly, surveys, opinion polls, and forecasts will no longer be published.

With elections around the corner, Greece's political parties are tailoring their strategies on the basis that the outcome of the first ballot, which will adhere to the simple proportional representation, will have a catalytic effect on the second elections with the new electoral law.

Without having planned it, Greece and Turkey will be marching to the pace imposed by each country's upcoming general elections in the first half of this year. As a rule, politicians focus their campaigns on domestic issues that mainly affect voters, leaving diplomacy aside.

For the organization of the two votes separately from each other, there should be at least two weeks between them, says Rositsa Mateva from the CEC

"2-in-1 elections can be organized technically. This is not the first time such a thing has happened. However, more voting machines will have to be bought and the CEC is discussing this."

The AGERPRES National News Agency launched the dedicated free news stream LOCAL ELECTIONS 2020 intended for the media and everyone interested in following the process for the election of the representatives to the local public administration.

Prime Minister Viorica Dancila on Thursday said that for the presidential elections this autumn there must be an alternative to the information system managed by the Special Telecommunications Service (STS) used in the elections to the European Parliament and also there must be a parallel counting. "As you know, there is a parliamentary committee that will assess this matter.

Keeping a balance in Greece's political center can be tricky. On one hand, there are voters who dread the prospect of an unstable government. For them, the center-left Movement for Change (KINAL) alliance needs to provide assurances that it will help form a government if necessary after Sunday's general election.

Who will win? This is usually the fundamental question in any election, but very few people seem to have doubts this time around. The outcome of the recent European Parliament election and the bolstered credibility of opinion polls make virtually everyone - both winners and losers in May's Euro vote, both experts and ordinary voters - believe that New Democracy will win Sunday's ballot.

Ambassador Audrey Glover, head of the observers mission, during a press conference in Tirana on July 1. Photo: Gjergj Erebara/BIRN

In a preliminary report presented in Tirana on Monday, the mission said the elections were held "with little regard for the interests of the electorate".