Internationalist Workers' Left

Alexis Tsipras announced on Thursday he had submitted his resignation from the party's leadership after SYRIZA suffered a crushing defeat in two elections held in May and June.

The first virtue of a good novel is internal coherence. It may be built upon outrageous assumptions, such as the existence of extraterrestrials on Mars, but contradictions within the plot are not permitted. Fantastic stories, be they scientific, horror, or otherwise, are akin to non-Euclidean geometry. They begin with unfamiliar axioms but are subsequently structured with absolute logic.

The outcome of Sunday's election largely followed expectations, with no significant deviations from the May 21 election. It was no surprise that conservative New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis once again achieved a personal triumph, while the SYRIZA leftists faced an even greater defeat due to their unacceptable response, insulting the voters without learning from their past mistakes.

The "forced lull" that followed the May 21 polls will not continue after Sunday's disappointing results for SYRIZA, which saw its 31.5% tally of 2019 fall below 18%.

The leftist party has been "boiling" for a month now and good manners are expected to vanish at the meetings that will be convened as SYRIZA has been plagued by infighting between different factions for some time now. 

New Democracy is leading in the vote of Greeks living overseas, as counting of ballot boxes from the 35 foreign countries where polling stations were set up continues.

The center-right "New Democracy" is the big winner of the early parliamentary elections in Greece that were held yesterday. The party will form an independent government and rule for the next 4 years.

Center-left PASOK has every reason to celebrate Sunday's result as it has increased its share of the vote by 50 percent over two election cycles.

The sense of elation was not least felt by its leader Nikos Androulakis, who has strengthened his hand.

Party leaders have been hosting their traditional gatherings with political reporters ahead of Sunday's election.

New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis gathered with journalists at a cafe on Ermou Street, in central Athens, where much of the conversation was said to have focused on the upcoming election results and developments in Russia.

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