Tsipras poised to discuss changes to electoral law
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras plans to meet opposition leaders in the coming weeks to discuss possible changes to Greece’s electoral law, Kathimerini understands, with the government hoping that changes to the current system will be voted through Parliament by the end of next month.
Tsipras is aiming to garner a supermajority of at least 200 of the 300 MPs in Greek Parliament to support the proposed changes. This level of backing would mean that the updated version of the electoral law could apply immediately rather than after the next elections.
New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis has recently expressed a reluctance to discuss changes to the voting system now, especially since his party has already asked for snap elections to be called. PASOK and To Potami have indicated a greater willingness to discuss the suggestions that Tsipras will put forward.
The key proposal that the government is likely to make is the reduction of bonus seats awarded to the winning party. This currently stands at 50 but the coalition is expected to propose that it should drop to around 30.
The SYRIZA-Independent Greeks administration is considering proposing that the reduced bonus should not only be available to the party that comes first but also coalitions, or parties that agree before the elections to work together, if their combined support is more than 40 percent than the winning party.
In opposition, SYRIZA had advocated a system of proportional representation but the leftists now accept that this would most probably lead to problems in electing a government because there would be no concentration of parliamentary seats.
