New Parliament sworn in; to be dissolved almost immediately
The 300 MPs elected on May 21 were sworn in Sunday afternoon.
The new Parliament, in which no party achieved an overall majority, will elect a Speaker and deputy speakers Monday. It will then be dissolved by presidential decree, either Monday or Tuesday, and new elections proclaimed, for June 25.
The new elections will be contested under a new electoral law providing a seat bonus to the winner. The voting threshold required for the winning party to achieve an overall majority will vary depending on the number of parties represented in Parliament as well as the share of the vote gained by smaller parties. The more parties elect MPs and the higher the dispersal of the vote, the higher the majority threshold will be.
While a victory for ruling New Democracy, which beat main opposition SYRIZA by more than 20 points is taken for granted, its achieving an overall majority, although quite likely, is not.
