On May 24’s meeting of political leaders with the Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropouloy, it was agreed that, as no coalition government can be formed, Sakellaropoulou will ask top judicial bodies to form a temporary government of wide acceptance to hold new elections on June 25.
In the parliamentary elections of May 21, the conservative New Democracy party of PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis won 40.79 per cent of the votes, securing 146 seats in parliament, while the main left-wing opposition SYRIZA party won 20.07 per cent and 71 seats.
The elections were held under a simple proportional system, whereby the first party must win 151 seats to form a government. On May 21, Mitsotakis made it clear that he is pursuing a one-party government and on May 22, he duly returned the exploratory mandate for the formation of a coalition government to Sakellaropoulou.
Sakellaropoulou, as defined by the constitution, must give an exploratory mandate to the leader of the second party in parliament. SYRIZA’s leader Alexis Tsipras turned it down, saying he had no possibility of forming a government. Nikos Androulakis, leader of the centre-left third largest party, also turned it down.
It is impossible to form a government, the President must assign the Council of the State, or the Supreme Court, or the Court of Audit, to form a temporary government to dissolve parliament and hold new elections.
According to the media, on May 21 the new parliamentary members will take their oath; on May 30, the president of the new parliament will be appointed, and, within the same day, the dissolution of the parliament and determination of the day of the second round of elections will be announced.
The second round is expected to take place on June 25 and, unlike in the just concluded elections, will be held under the enhanced proportional representation system. This means that the winning party will receive bonus seats that will help it secure a stable majority.
Source: Balkan Insight
