PM quashes morale-sapping talk over electoral law

There is no likelihood of modifying the electoral law to allow the winning party in a national election an easier path to a parliamentary majority, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said in an interview Wednesday.

“These are the rules, and it is with these rules that we will go [to the next election],” Mitsotakis told TV station Skai. “I believe in single-party governments, but the electoral law is what it is… If we implement our program… we’ll be fine in 2027,” the date of the next election, he added.

After last year’s triumph, when ruling New Democracy won two successive elections with 40.79% and 40.56%, respectively, while main opposition SYRIZA notched 20.07% and 17.83%, the ruling conservatives saw their share of the vote tumble to 28.31%. SYRIZA’s further decline, to 14.92%, was a small consolation to the conservatives.

It is true there were no stakes in the election, and the result was a record 58.61% abstention. But there was a widespread sense of dissatisfaction with the government, which benefited mostly parties to its right. And no parliamentary majority is possible with slightly over 28% of the votes.

The magic share of the votes required for the winner to gain a majority in the 300-member Parliament depends on the number of parties that make it in. In the latest national election, eight did so; Mitsotakis and his aides believe that maybe fewer will do so next time and that 36% will be sufficient.

But, however fragmented and occupied with its own internecine battles the opposition may be, it is rare for a government deep into its second term to gain in popularity. Already, amid last year’s triumph, some pundits were saying that voters didn’t vote for who they wanted to govern, but against who they didn’t.