ReportWire

Tag: Alexis Tsipras

  • Greece’s conservatives win election majority to secure second term

    Greece’s conservatives win election majority to secure second term

    [ad_1]

    Press play to listen to this article

    Voiced by artificial intelligence.

    ATHENS — Greece’s conservatives won big on Sunday’s parliamentary elections, securing an outright majority. Far-right parties also made gains, while the left struggled, giving Greece’s parliament its most rightward slant since the restoration of democracy in 1974.

    The New Democracy party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis managed to widen its double-digit lead over its main rival, the left-wing Syriza party, and secured 158 seats in the country’s 300-seat parliament, under the new electoral system which awards the winning party 50 bonus seats.

    “Our goals are high and must be high in a second term that can transform Greece with dynamic growth rates that will raise wages and reduce inequalities,” Mitsotakis said in his first message from his party’s headquarters.

    “People gave us a safe majority. The major reforms will therefore proceed with speed as this is the choice of the Greek people and I will honor it in full.”

    Sunday’s elections were the second held in the country in five weeks, after New Democracy came first on May 21 but fell short of an outright majority.

    New Democracy got 40.5 percent of the vote on Sunday, while Syriza was lagging with only 17.8 percent and 47 seats, according to official results. The socialist PASOK party had 11.9 percent and 32 seats, and the communists KKE had 7.6 percent and 20 seats. The participation rate was at 52.7 percent, the Interior Ministry reported.

    Far-right gains

    Four fringe parties — mainly from the far-right — also managed to top the 3 percent threshold to make it into parliament.

    Last-minute contender the Spartans party — which recently added a jailed MP from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, Ilias Kasidiaris, to its list of backers — saw its support rise to 4.7 percent within days and secured 13 seats in parliament. The conservative government had passed an amendment aiming to ban him from parliament.

    New Democracy’s dominance is another sign of how Southern European countries are moving to the right, after a decades-long financial crisis in the eurozone that led the rise of left-wing parties.

    Ultra-nationalist, pro-Russian Greek Solution got 4.5 percent and 12 seats, while anti-abortion, religious party Niki got 3.7 percent and 10 MPs. To the left, Course of Freedom, led by former member of Syriza Zoi Konstantopoulou, got 3.1 percent and 8 seats.

    The far right has performed well in recent elections in Finland and Spain, and is polling particularly well in Germany. Its savvier elements — like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni — are beginning to assert themselves at the European level.

    But the main story of Sunday’s election was New Democracy’s dominance, which is another sign of how Southern European countries are moving to the right, after a decades-long financial crisis in the eurozone that led to the rise of left-wing parties.

    “This is a clear victory for Kyriakos Mitsotakis, for [New Democracy] and for the EPP,” said Thanasis Bakolas, the center-right European People’s Party secretary general.

    “In politics, what you stand for matters. This is what we see in Greece, also what we saw earlier this year in national elections in Finland and regional elections in Spain. And this is precisely what we will see again in upcoming parliamentary elections in Spain in July and Poland in October. EPP parties are dominating the centre, while the centre-left is barricaded to its fringes.”

    The election outcome is considered market-friendly and puts Greece firmly on track to regain an investment-grade rating towards the end of the year, analysts say.

    Mitsotakis has promised that his first two bills will include a further reform of the public administration and the economy. He has also promised overhauls in the judicial, health and education sectors and expressed his intention to create a family ministry to help address Greece’s shrinking, and ageing, population.

    “The resounding victory will provide ND with a comfortable majority, putting Mitsotakis in a good position to push through investor-friendly reforms,” said Wolfango Piccoli, co-founder of risk analysis company Teneo.

    But the fringe parties will have a platform to broadcast their populist message and attempt to disrupt the government’s agenda, exploiting politically toxic issues like migration, the relationship with Turkey, abortion, the role of religion in education, Russia sanctions, he added.

    “It remains to be seen how Mitsotakis — often perceived to be more vulnerable to attacks from the far-right given his distinct liberal, center-right orientation — will manage to deal with the possible challenge posed by far-right opposition lawmakers.”

    Main opposition Syriza performed very poorly, raising questions about whether its status as the main opposition could now be challenged by Pasok party. It also means that conservatives could govern without particular scrutiny.

    “Although the danger of collapse was avoided and Syriza remains the official opposition, we have suffered a serious electoral defeat,” the party’s leader Alexis Tsipras said, setting the European elections next year as a goal for the party’s reimposition and adding that he will put his leadership to the judgment of the party members.

    [ad_2]

    Nektaria Stamouli

    Source link

  • Greece’s conservatives achieve landslide victory but fall short of majority

    Greece’s conservatives achieve landslide victory but fall short of majority

    [ad_1]

    ATHENS — Greece’s conservative ruling party achieved a landslide victory in Sunday’s election, but it will have to wait for a second vote later this summer in its bid to secure an outright majority.

    The New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis managed to gain a double-digit lead over its main rival, the left-wing Syriza party, and was missing only a few seats for a majority even with the new proportional representation system, according to early results.

    “The political earthquake that occurred today calls on all of us to accelerate the process for a final governmental solution,” Mitsotakis declared Sunday evening from his party headquarters.

    “The data from the ballot box is catalytic — it proves that New Democracy has the approval to govern independently and strongly and they demanded it emphatically, in an absolute way,” he said.

    With 75 percent of the votes counted, New Democracy was poised to get 40.8 percent of the vote and 145 seats in the 300-seat parliament. Syriza was lagging with only 20.1 percent and 72 seats, while the Socialist Pasok party had 11.7 percent and 42 seats. The Communists KKE had 7.1 percent and 25 seats and the nationalist Greek Solution 4.5 percent and 16 seats.

    Three smaller parties that initially looked poised to get 3 percent and top the threshold to make it to parliament, eventually scored lower. The participation rate was at 59.2 percent, the Interior Ministry reported.

    Nonetheless, New Democracy didn’t gather the percentage of votes — 45 percent — needed to win an outright majority.

    Mitsotakis managed to gain among voters despite his premiership being burdened with a spying scandal, spiraling inflation and mounting concerns over the rule of law.

    “Our collective bodies will be convened immediately in order to evaluate the election results,” said Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, calling the results extremely negative for his party.

    However, he said “the election cycle is not yet over, as there will probably be a second election and therefore, we do not have the time to wait. We must immediately make all changes necessary, in order to give the best possible conditions to the next crucial and final electoral battle.”

    “It is a devastating outcome for the opposition, especially for Syriza,” said Wolfango Piccoli, co-founder of risk analysis company Teneo.

    “It will take a long time for the main opposition party to recover, leaving New Democracy in a position to dominate Greek politics and run the government with no meaningful scrutiny,” he said.

    “The outcome of today’s vote will be welcome by investors, but ND’s dominance of the political system together with a weak opposition may raise concerns about clientelism and the quality of policy-making,” Piccoli added.

    “The resounding victory of New Democracy sends a clear and undisputed message all over Europe,” said Thanasis Bakolas, the center-right European People’s Party secretary general, adding that this is the first time since 2000 in Greece that the incumbent government emerges stronger after its term.

    “A message to Brussels? — Today’s electoral result is a clear message against all those outside Greece who have consistently questioned the quality of Greek democracy and the will of the Greek people,” Bakolas added.

    Starting from Monday, each of the three leading parties will get the mandate to form a government, starting with the winner, before passing to the second and then third party. Each one will have up to three days to try to form a government.

    If there is no agreement on a coalition, the parliament elected on Sunday will be sworn in and then dissolved, paving the way for a second round of elections to take place and a caretaker government will be sworn in.

    Bolstered by his triumph, Mitsotakis is expected to immediately seek a second vote, rejecting the option of a coalition after this first round of voting.

    That means Greeks will probably head to the ballot boxes again on June 25 or July 2, with New Democracy poised to gain an outright majority, thanks to a system that grants the winning party in the second round up to 50 bonus seats.

    [ad_2]

    Nektaria Stamouli

    Source link

  • Who are the bad guys? Police brutality shapes Greek election

    Who are the bad guys? Police brutality shapes Greek election

    [ad_1]

    ATHENS — The biggest crime in Greece? The state of the police force.

    That’s according to opposition politicians, who are putting security and law enforcement center-stage ahead of this month’s national election.

    Syriza, the leftist main opposition party, accuses the conservative New Democracy, which is hoping for another term in office after the May 21 vote, of allowing the police to become run by organized crime gangs. The conservative government maintains a lead in the polls, although a second round will likely be needed and is penciled in for July 2.

    “The Greek police are collaborating with the crime instead of fighting crime,” Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said, adding that the “Greek mafia is in the police.”

    For sure, Greek police have been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons of late, thanks to the alleged involvement of police officials in mafia gangs profiting from illegal brothels and casinos; the murder of a 16-year-old Roma boy during a police chase; an alleged rape in a central Athens police department; and complaints of police brutality.

    The Greek police force has a long history of corruption and excessive use of force but since New Democracy was elected in 2019 — at least in part on a law-and-order platform — complaints have soared.

    In recent protests following a deadly train crash, police were accused of using unjustified violence during peaceful rallies, with several videos exposing the brutality. In one case, police officers sped toward a group of peaceful protestors on motorcycles and threw firecrackers at their feet. Prosecutors have ordered an investigation after a police tow truck drove at high speed into dumpsters being wheeled into the middle of a street by protesters.

    The chief of police, Konstantinos Skoumas, was replaced in March. In an open letter, Skoumas defended his record and blamed politicians for forcing him out, saying he wouldn’t be “anyone’s scapegoat,” and arguing that his actions “caused strong resentment in certain centers of power, which, as a result, led to the violent termination of my term of office.”

    The opposition blames both the police and the interior ministry that oversees it. “Impunity, the cultivation of an omertà mentality, the lack of accountability, are unfortunately characteristic of the way the Greek police operates, with the tolerance, if not the complicity, of the ministry,” said Giorgos Kaminis of the socialist Pasok party.

    Minister of Civil Protection Takis Theodorikakos hit back, calling Syriza’s accusations “slanderous” and “nationally damaging,” as they could potentially scare away tourists.

    “Our daily concern in practice is the safety of citizens, which is why we put an end to the lawlessness and delinquency,” he said on a recent visit to a police station. “This is why in 2022 the Greek police arrested 7,000 illegal migrants in the Attica [region that includes Athens], and now we are placing 600 new special guards at the Attica police stations,” Theodorikakos said, adding that Greece is a safe country.

    Government spokesman Akis Skertsos said on Monday that there has been a reduction in all medium and low crime rates during the government’s term. Comparing January to August of 2019 to the same period in 2022 there has been a 15 percent reduction in thefts and 35 percent reduction in robberies.

    Complaints on the rise

    In 2022, preliminary data from the Greek Ombudsman showed a 50 percent rise in citizens’ complaints against the police compared to 2019, the last pre-pandemic year, and a 14 percent rise in incidents of racially motivated police actions.

    “The tone set by the political as well as the natural, operational leadership of the security forces undoubtedly plays a vital role” in these increases, Greek Ombudsman Andreas Pottakis told POLITICO. Pottakis said the government’s attitude toward the police was “overly supportive” and could “be misinterpreted” by officers, making them think they have “carte blanche” to do whatever they want.

    GREECE NATIONAL PARLIAMENT ELECTION POLL OF POLLS

    For more polling data from across Europe visit POLITICO Poll of Polls.

    One of the government’s first tasks after taking office four years ago was to revive a police motorcycle unit that had been disbanded under the previous Syriza government over human rights violations. Many of the 1,500 recruits were drafted from the ranks of military special forces, bypassing the police academy.

    New Democracy’s efforts to establish the first university police force in Europe also failed. Α special unit with 1,000 officers was set up in September but still hasn’t set foot on campuses. The idea is so unpopular that on the rare occasions officers from the unit have ventured near universities, they have been accompanied by riot police. Some 600 officers meant for the uni police have already been transferred to other departments, the police confirmed.

    Last month, an officer fired his gun into the air outside Athens University of Economics and Business in the center of the capital during clashes with hooded, masked youths.

    Theodorikakos, the interior minister, said such incidents happened because, in the pre-election period, some people want to “blow up the political climate.” He added that some people “even want him dead,” a comment that was heavily criticized by the opposition.

    “Let’s stop playing games at the expense of the seriousness of the issues, as [Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis did with the university police,” said Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis. “He made a body which was paid for by the Greek taxpayers, did nothing of substance, and instead of apologizing he continues doing the same.”

    Abuses of power

    Police have also been accused of resorting to violence and intimidation to hamper journalists covering demonstrations and the refugee crisis on the country’s islands.

    “We have cases of police officers arresting and even stripping lawyers and journalists off their clothes or humiliating them even though their professional identity is made known,” Pottakis, the ombudsman, said. “Young people are mainly targeted. The age element seems to act as an encouragement.”

    Last December a 16-year-old Roma boy died after being shot in the head by police chasing him after he fled a petrol station allegedly without paying for €20 of fuel.

    A 19-year-old girl reported she had been raped in a station by two policemen who filmed their actions in the main central police department last year. The officers involved said the sex was consensual. They have been suspended pending an investigation.

    “We are heading from one fiasco to another,” said Syriza MP Christos Spirtzis. “Where are the internal investigations that have been conducted? There is no information, no one has been punished.”

    Such investigations have, however, been launched. In January, Supreme Court prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos and Interior Minister Theodorikakos ordered an investigation into the relationship between senior police officials and members of the mafia, after leaked conversations showed gang leaders negotiating with officers about continuing their activities undisturbed.

    Posters of the communist party in Thessaloniki | Sakis Mitrolodis/AFP via Getty Images

    This was not the first report linking the police with organized crime.

    Active and retired police officers stand accused, together with mafia members, of widespread corruption, with the criminal organization alleged to be running a protection racket involving 900 businesses — from clubs to brothels and casinos — with a turnover of at least €1 million per month.

    Investigative website Reporters United revealed that one official implicated in the racket was promoted to director of the Attica Security Department, one of the most important positions in the fight against organized crime. Police later said they weren’t aware of the allegations against the officer.

    “Citizens’ trust relationship with the police is broken when those who break their oath are not punished,” the ombudsman said.

    [ad_2]

    Nektaria Stamouli

    Source link