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A parliamentary election was originally scheduled to be held in 2013 as per the constitution; however, due to an agreement to form a coalition government in November 2011 in order to ratify and implement the decisions agreed to with other Eurozone countries and the IMF on 26 October, one of the conditions was to hold an early election.[1] This is expected to happen in early 2012.
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The European sovereign debt crisis and the Greek financial crisis, in particular, have led to an escalated political crisis. Following the announcement by Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou that a referendum would take place to determine whether Greece would accept the next bailout deal with the European Union, the IMF and the ECB,[2][3][4] the parties of the opposition and politicians from within the ruling Panhellenic Socialist Movement have demanded early elections.[5][6][7][8][9]
At the same time, protests and strikes in Greece have been commonplance, with some turning violent. Social unrest in the country is the result of a series of austerity packages passed by the Greek parliament since 2010.
On 4 November, 2011 there was a vote of confidence in the parliament, which was narrowly won by the government of George Papandreou by a vote of 153 to 145 in the 300-seat body.[10] Another vote of confidence is set for 4 November 2011,[11] and though a number of Panhellenic Socialist Movement MPs have said they will not support the government in the vote of confidence,[11] all 152 PASOK MPs supported the government,[12] but only because Papandreou has agreed to step down as Prime Minister in order for a government of national unity to take over[12]. Following the vote of confidence one previously expelled PASOK member was re-admitted to the party, raising the Papandreou majority to 153 seats.
No date has been set for the elections, however in his speech in parliament on 4 November Evangelos Venizelos said that the caretaker government would last until February 2012, when elections would be held.[13] The most likely election date is 19 February 2012.[14] However, Papademos indicated one of the preconditions for accepting the office as Prime Minister was that the elections would be held at a later date, and after being sworn in he denied that elections had been set for 19 February 2012.[15] Samaras stated in December 2011 that the election was planned for February 2012, but could take place later if necessary.[16]
In late December 2011, it was decided that the election would be held a few weeks later, in late April 2012.[17]
Voting is mandatory;[18] however no sanctions or penalties have ever been enforced.[19] Penalties do nevertheless still nominally exist.[20]
The Hellenic Parliament is currently made up of nine parties, of which only five are recognized as "parties" while the rest as "independent" due to the fact that they were formed after the Greek general election, 2009. These parties, with number of seats in the Parliament and the number of seats they have lost or gained since the 2009 elections, are:
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Surveys carried out since 2009 show a sharp decline in the number of votes allocated to the two major parties, PASOK and New Democracy.
| Date | Company | PASOK | ND | KKE | LAOS | SYRIZA | DIMAR | Greens | DISY | Others and/or Undecided |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct. 2010[21] | Public Issue | 42.5% | 28% | 11% | 5.5% | 4.5% | 1.5% | 2.5% | – | Others — 4.5% |
| Jan. 2011[22] | Public Issue | 38.5% | 30.5% | 10.5% | 5.5% | 6% | 2% | 2.5% | 2% | Others — 2.5% |
| Feb. 2011[23] | Public Issue | 38% | 30.5% | 10.5% | 6% | 4.5% | 2.5% | 3% | 2% | Others — 3% |
| Feb. 2011[24] | VPRC | 33.0% | 32.0% | 12.5% | 5.0% | 5.0% | 2.5% | 4.0% | 2.0% | Others — 4.0% |
| Apr. 2011[25] | Public Issue | 33.5% | 27% | 12% | 8.5% | 5.5% | – | – | – | Others — 13% |
| Apr. 2011[26] | VPRC | 31.5% | 30.5% | 12.0% | 7.5% | 5.0% | 2.0% | 3.5% | 1.5% | Others — 6.5% |
| May 2011[27] | Public Issue | 32% | 29% | 12% | 8% | 6.5% | 3.5% | 3.5% | 1.5% | Others — 4% |
| May 2011[28] | VPRC | 30.5% | 31.0% | 12.0% | 7.5% | 5.5% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 1.0% | Others — 7.0% |
| June 2011[29] | Public Issue | 27% | 31% | 11% | 8% | 6.5% | 3% | 3.5% | 2.5% | Others — 7.5% |
| June 2011[30] | VPRC | 26.0% | 28.5% | 13.5% | 7.0% | 6.5% | 3.0% | 3.5% | 2.0% | Others — 10.0% |
| July 2011[31] | VPRC | 25.5% | 29.5% | 13.0% | 7.5% | 7.0% | 2.5% | 4.0% | 2.0% | Others — 9.0% |
| July 2011[32] | Public Issue | 26.5% | 32.5% | 11.5% | 7.5% | 9% | 2% | 3.5% | 1.5% | Others — 6% |
| Sept. 2011[33] | VPRC | 24.5% | 30.0% | 13.0% | 7.5% | 7.0% | 3.0% | 5.0% | 1.5% | Others — 8.5% |
| Sept. 2011[34] | Public Issue | 28% | 32% | 10.5% | 8% | 9% | 3% | 4% | 1.5% | Others — 4% |
| Sept. 2011[35] | GPO | 15.5% | 22.3% | 9.8% | 7.9% | 4.8% | 2.7% | 2.4% | 2.0% | 32.6% |
| Sept. 2011[36] | Alco | 15.5% | 21.3% | 7.4% | 5.6% | 5.0% | 2.5% | 3.0% | 2.5% | 37.2% |
| Oct. 2011[37] | Public Issue | 22.5% | 31.5% | 10.5% | 9% | 9.5% | 5% | 3% | 2% | Others — 7% |
| Oct. 2011[38] | VPRC | 19.5% | 31.0% | 13.5% | 8.0% | 8.5% | 4.0% | 4.5% | 2.0% | Others — 9.0% |
| Nov. 2011[39] | Public Issue | 19.5% | 28.5% | 11% | 8.5% | 12% | 7.5% | 3.5% | 2.5% | Others — 7% |
| Nov. 2011[40] | MRB | 18.1% | 33.1% | 11% | 7.1% | 8.8% | 7.5% | 3.2% | 3.2% | Others — 8% |
| Nov. 2011[41] | VPRC | 18.5% | 32.0% | 12.5% | 7.0% | 10.0% | 6.5% | 3.5% | 2.0% | Others — 8.0% |
| Dec. 2011[42] | GPO | 15.3% | 21.5% | 10.0% | 7.1% | 6.1% | 6.3% | 3.0% | 2.3% | 28.4% |
| Dec. 2011[43] | Public Issue | 15.5% | 30% | 13.5% | 6% | 14% | 9.5% | 4% | 3% | Others — 4.5% |
| Dec. 2011[44] | Metron Analysis | 17.1% | 29.3% | 13.6% | 9.2% | 10.7% | 5.9% | 5.8% | 2.5% | Others — 5.9% |
| Dec. 2011[45] | VPRC | 18.0% | 30.5% | 13.0% | 7.0% | 11.0% | 8.5% | 3.0% | 2.0% | Others — 7.0% |
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