Parties scan country ahead of showdown
New Democracy, SYRIZA, PASOK focusing on specific battlefields in view of European elections
With less than two months to go before the European Parliament elections on June 9, the campaign has entered a crucial phase with tours by political leaders and party committees being a key element.
In Attica, where almost half of the country’s population is concentrated, a major battle will be fought, as ruling New Democracy seeks to maintain its dominance, while main opposition parties SYRIZA and PASOK aim to strengthen their presence in this region and the other major urban centers, in their battle for second place. Crete is also an arena of great conflict between SYRIZA and PASOK. Leftist SYRIZA is seeking to regain the voters it lost in the previous elections, while socialist PASOK is intent on consolidating its strength, after coming second in three of the island’s four constituencies last June.
The electoral battle in northern Greece is of great interest to all parties. The polling estimates for a significant rise of parties to the right of conservative ND are shaping a new landscape, as possible losses there will have to be compensated by electoral gains in other regions. Thessaly will also be a crucial battlefield in the aftermath of the major disasters caused by last year’s floods. For ND in particular, the region of Macedonia, the Muslim minority vote, Thessaly after the floods, and the working class in Attica are particular targets.
Macedonia, a traditionally conservative region, is showing leaks to nationalist Greek Solution.
In Thrace there are two regional units in which ND recorded by far the lowest percentages in the whole country in national elections last year. These are Rodopi, where it got 28.89%, and Xanthi, with 30.32%. The two regional units have the particularity of the Muslim minority.
In the 2023 election there were constituencies that had already shown their intentions. In the A Thessaloniki district ND garnered 35.28%, while in Pella it was also two percentage points below its nationwide percentage. Western Macedonia has always been a region with many problems, mainly economically. Indicatively, in two regional units, ND received among the lowest percentages nationwide: in Florina 34.42% and in Kozani 36.69%. It is understood that in the upcoming European elections there is a risk that they will fall even further, which is why regional units Western Macedonia are taking a good chunk of the spotlight.
