Greece will have a snap election on 4 October. And this one is pretty snappy, as it will be held just over two years after the last one.
Why a new election so soon? The conservative New Democracy party won a (narrow) majority in 2007, and according to Reuters (first link above) polls do not suggest a larger majority (or any at all) is likely to result. In fact, New Democracy may not even win a plurality this time–unusual circumstances in which to have a snap election.
The Times of London suggests that PM Costas Karamanlis may be experiencing troubles within his majority, especially since the drubbing the party took in the recent European elections. The looming election of a new president also is a factor.
Mr Karamanlis said he feared that the Opposition would force an election in March over the choice of a new president and insisted that he wanted to spare the country six months of electioneering at a time when strong government was vital.
Of course, “sparing the country” is unlikely to be the main motivation behind calling the election. More likely, it is a classic case of a parliamentary ruling-party leader using an election call to pull his own party together and fight for a renewed mandate (however unlikely it may be), or else go into opposition (presumably with new leadership) and regroup.
The Times article quotes a “sarcastic… left-leaning tabloid” headline that pretty much sums it up: “I’ve failed — vote for me.”
The leaders of Greece’s two main political parties, ruling New Democracy and opposition PASOK, agree on the need to change the country’s election system, bringing it closer to the German model. Excellent.
“However, this consensus must translate into action.” The problem, indeed.
Seed planted by Wilf Day — 16 September 2009 @ 22:20
Interesting. The Greek system is pretty far from “the German model” now, so that gives the two parties a lot of room to meet their stated objective, whether or not they really get to MMP.
Of course, in the meantime, they will have another election under the current rules.
Seed planted by MSS — 17 September 2009 @ 12:39
[...] think we will get an election in late September. But then again, politicians occasionally do very stupid things. [...]
Scion grafted by Maybe They Ought to Learn a Bit from Mr. Gallup — Jacob Christensen — 08 March 2011 @ 10:07