The leaders of main Greek political parties will hold a televised debate on Wednesday ahead of the 21 May national elections, which, at this stage, are unlikely to produce a government.
A proportional system will apply in the first round of the elections, and several analysts insist that only a coalition of parties will be able to form a government.
If the first party does not manage to form a government, then a second round is expected in July. It’s estimated that a party or coalition of parties should reach almost 37% of the vote to be able to get a majority in the parliament.
The ruling centre-right New Democracy party (EPP) leads all polls, followed by the main opposition Syriza party (EU Left) and socialist Pasok (S&D).
Pasok is expected to play the kingmaker’s role in forming a government.
Syriza has openly said it wants a progressive coalition with Pasok, while New Democracy has stated it prefers a single-party government.
Pasok, for now, has kept its cards secret, although Iratxe García Pérez, leader of the S&D group in the European Parliament, told EURACTIV Poland earlier this week that any collaboration with the EPP is no longer possible as the EU centre-right has crossed the line by forging alliances with the extreme-right.
Read more: EU socialist chief: Cooperation with the EPP no longer possible
The anti-government press interpreted the statement as an “indirect” message to Pasok to stay away from New Democracy.
A meeting last month between social democrat German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras was also not left unnoticed. After the meeting, Tsipras said he discussed with Scholz the significance of progressive governance model for Europe.
Greek TV channel corners PM
Political parties struggled to find common ground to organise a debate before the elections.
Tsipras insisted that a separate debate between him and Mitsotakis should take place.
However, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis repeatedly avoided it, prompting Syriza to claim that he feared the “public comparison”.
On the other hand, New Democracy sources claimed that Mitsotakis does not need a bilateral public fight with Tsipras, considering he is leading the polls.
Meanwhile, Greece’s biggest Mega TV channel cornered the Greek premier.
The channel director sent a letter to Mitsotakis and Tsipras proposing to host a debate between them right after the discussion with all candidates.
Syriza immediately accepted the proposal, while New Democracy firmly rejected it.
“Those who want the Greek people’s vote cannot be hiding”, Tsipras commented.
Yet, the debate’s structure was strongly criticised by Renew Europe MEP Sophie in’t Veld, who leads the European Parliament’s committee on the so-called “Greek Watergate”.
She recently tweeted whether “there is a code of ethics for broadcasters”, considering that one of the journalists participating in the debate is the wife of the Athens mayor (PM’s nephew) and another one is married to a lawmaker belonging to the ruling New Democracy party.
Is there no code of ethics for broadcasters or something like that? @BrunoTersago ? https://t.co/OAiqyKrlU1
— Sophie in 't Veld (@SophieintVeld) May 4, 2023
(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com)
Read more with EURACTIV
Interview: Croatian EU funding highlights greening, digitalisation
Source: euractiv.com
