NEWS

New electoral law likely to introduce sliding scale bonus

New electoral law likely to introduce sliding scale bonus

Plans by the conservative government to revamp Greece’s electoral law would enable the winning party to form an absolute majority in Parliament should it garner around 37 percent of the vote, Kathimerini understands. 

According to the same sources, the new law, which is to be tabled in Parliament by the end of this year or, at the latest, in the early months of 2020, would foresee a sliding scale bonus of seats for the party that wins the most votes in the national election. 

The idea is that a party that wins around 37 percent of the vote would get 151 seats, enough to form a government on its own. Every extra percentage point would give the top vote-getting party an additional three deputies, so with 39 percent, a party would elect 157 MPs in the 300-strong House, whereas 40 percent would raise its share to 160. 

Greece’s leftist government scrapped a 50-seat bonus given to the winning party – irrespective of how slim or wide the margin was – in a purported bid to boost proportionality. 

Kathimerini understands that the new law is unlikely to change the 3 percent threshold for parliamentary entry. Analysts say that raising the bar would trigger protests among minor parties such as Greek Solution and MeRa 25 but also from the Greek Communist Party (KKE) and the left-of-center Movement for Change (KINAL) alliance. 

Although KINAL has favored the idea of a sliding scale bonus, it would not support rules that would enable absolute parliamentary majorities with a ballot share in the territory of 37 percent.

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