Seat distribution
The changes in the distribution of parliamentary seats will inevitably lead to an alteration in the balance of power between parties. Thus: 1. In Fokida, which becomes a single-seat district and where New Democracy leads by 7 percent, the PASOK candidate will likely lose his seat. 2. PASOK might also run into difficulties in Thesprotia, despite the fact that in the 2000 elections it came first with a 4 percent lead over ND. But this lead was slashed in ND’s favor in the last elections, a trend which shows no sign of being reversed, rendering moot the election of PASOK’s deputy. 3. The First Athens Electoral District, which is to elect 17, as opposed to the 19 MPs it did before, is up in the air. In the last elections, ND got nine MPs against PASOK’s eight. But the Communist Party and Synaspismos Left Coalition also got one MP apiece. 4. In Piraeus’s First Electoral District, where six deputies will be elected as opposed to seven before, neither the PASOK nor ND candidate can feel easy. In this district, the balancing mechanism of the electoral system has led to small parties winning seats. 5. Arcadia is a district that also presents some interest, since the Labor Ministry’s duo – Dimitris Reppas and Rovertos Spyropoulos – will have to make huge efforts to prevent any of the district’s now reduced number of seats from going to the opposition (from four deputies, Arcadia will elect three). 6. Magnesia also elects five deputies rather than the six it did before. The difference between the two parties is slight, with PASOK ahead with only one percentage point. 7. In the electoral districts of Pella and Messinia (from six deputies each, they will elect five), ND has a 7 percent lead, rendering the re-election of PASOK deputies precarious.
