Greeks were voting Sunday in the first election since their country's economy ceased to be subject to strict supervision and control by international lenders who had provided bailout funds during its nearly decade-long financial crisis.
The vote pitches conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, 55, a Harvard-educated former banking executive, against 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, who heads the left-wing Syriza party and served as prime minister during some of the financial crisis’ most turbulent years, as the two main contenders.
The rising cost of living was at the forefront of many voters' minds as they headed to polling centers set up in schools across the country.
“Every year, instead of improving, things are getting worse," said Athens resident Dimitris Hondrogiannis, 54, "Things are expensive. Every day, things are getting out of control. It’s enough to make you afraid to go to the supermarket to shop. We’ll see how things go.”
Hondrogiannis said he hoped for a stable government that would help reduce prices for food and general goods. “People cannot make ends meet," he said.
Although Mitsotakis has been steadily ahead in opinion polls, a newly introduced electoral system of proportional representation makes it unlikely that whoever wins the election will be able to garner enough seats in Greece’s 300-member parliament to form a government without seeking coalition partners.
Greece's Prime Minister and leader of New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis greets his supporters after votes at a polling station in Athens, May 21, 2023.
The winner of Sunday’s election will have three days to negotiate a coalition with other parties. If that fails, the mandate to form a government passes to the second party and the process is repeated. But deep divisions between the two main parties and four smaller ones expect ..
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