2007 Greek legislative election
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Parliamentary elections will be held in Greece on Sunday, September 16, 2007.[1] At stake will be 300 parliamentary seats, the party winning 151 of which will have the parliamentary majority and the capacity to form the next government . The top spot will be contested by Greece's two main parties (see below), but much may be at stake depending on whether one, two or three of the smaller parties (see below) surpass the 3% representation threshold and obtain parliamentary seats. In this latter case, a low percentage (below 40%) for the leading party may result in a very slim majority or even a hung parliament.
According to the current electoral law, the first-past-the post party is automatically awarded a bonus of 40 parliamentary seats. The remaining 260 seats are divided among all parties that achieve a minimum 3% nationwide vote tally, strictly in proportion to their polling returns. Since a majority of 151 seats is required, the leading party must secure at least 111 seats (42.7% of 260) in order to be able to form a government. Karamanlis stated that in the event that no party should manage to achieve a majority, a new election would have to be held.[2]
Opinion polls
A collection of opinion polls taken this year is listed below. According to law, publication of opinion polls is forbidden in the fortnight prior to the election date. Therefore the last day when opinion polls may be published is September 1, 2007, and it seems that practically all opinion polling firms will publish their final public reports on August 31, 2007, in time for the evening news.
| Polling Firm | Date Published | ND | PASOK | KKE | SYRIZA[3] | LAOS | Other | None | Unsure |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Public Issue/VPRC | 14 January 2007 | 43.0% | 39.0% | 7.5% | 4.0% | 3.5% | 3.0% | ||
| GPO | 15 January 2007 | 35.9% | 33.7% | 7.3% | 4.1% | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4.4% | 9.3% |
| Kapa Research | 10 February 2007 | 37.5% | 35.9% | 7.4% | 3.6% | 3.2% | 12.4% | ||
| Public Issue/VPRC | 11 February 2007 | 43.0% | 39.5% | 7.5% | 4.0% | 3.5% | 2.5% | ||
| RASS | 25 February 2007 | 36.7% | 33.9% | 5.8% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 18.1% | ||
| Public Issue/VPRC | 11 March 2007 | 43.0% | 39.5% | 7.0% | 4.5% | 3.5% | 2.5% | ||
| Metron Analysis | 22 March 2007 | 37.1% | 35.9% | 7.0% | 3.1% | 3.6% | 13.3% | ||
| ALCO | 30 March 2007 | 33.9% | 33.4% | 5.5% | 2.8% | 2.2% | 22.2% | ||
| Kapa Research | 30 March 2007 | 36.9% | 35.9% | 7.0% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 12.9% | ||
| GPO | 2 April 2007 | 36.0% | 34.2% | 7.0% | 4.0% | 4.5% | 0.9% | 3.9% | 9.5% |
| Public Issue/VPRC | 13 April 2007 | 42.5% | 39.0% | 7.0% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 3.0% | ||
| MRB | 27 April 2007 | 35.9% | 33.5% | 6.7% | 4.1% | 3.7% | 16.1% | ||
| Public Issue/VPRC | 13 May 2007 | 42.5% | 39.5% | 6.5% | 5.0% | 3.5% | 3.0% | ||
| MRB | 24 May 2007 | 35.7% | 33.7% | 6.3% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 15.2% | ||
| Metron Analysis | 2 June 2007 | 33.4% | 32.0% | 6.8% | 3.6% | 4.4% | 19.8% | ||
| Public Issue/VPRC | 8 June 2007 | 43.0% | 39.0% | 7.0% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 2.5% | ||
| GPO | 4 June 2007 | 35.5% | 34.5% | 7.1% | 4.4% | 4.9% | 2.3% | 3.3% | 8.0% |
| ALCO | 15 June 2007 | 34.2% | 34.0% | 6.3% | 2.9% | 3.5% | 1.6% | 2.5% | 14.7% |
| MRB | 15 June 2007 | 36.3% | 34.0% | 7.0% | 4.4% | 3.7% | 14.6% | ||
| Metron Analysis | 21 June 2007 | 36.8% | 35.8% | 6.4% | 3.8% | 3.8% | 13.4% | ||
| Kapa Research | 30 June 2007 | 36.1% | 35.1% | 7.6% | 4.3% | 4.2% | 0.6% | 12.1% | |
| Public Issue/VPRC | 16 July 2007 | 42.5% | 38.5% | 7.5% | 4.5% | 3.5% | 3.5% | ||
| GPO | 22 August 2007 | 36.2% | 34.6% | 7.1% | 4.2% | 4.6% | ' | 5.8% | 7.5% |
| Metron Analysis | 22 August 2007 | 31.0% | 29.5% | 7.0% | 4.3% | 3.5% | 2.5% | 6.8% | 15.4% |
| MRB | 23 August 2007 | 36.8% | 34.8% | 6.8% | 4.5% | 4.0% | 1.3% | 2.8% | 9.0% |
| Kapa Research | 26 August 2007 | 34.9% | 33.6% | 7.2% | 4.9% | 4.1% | 1,6% | 13.7% | |
| ALCO | 27 August 2007 | 35.0% | 34.2% | 6.5% | 3.4% | 3.6% | 0.8% | 4.1% | 11.8% |
| MRB | 28 August 2007 | 35.2% | 33.2% | 7.3% | 4.4% | 3.9% | 2.2% | 4.3% | 6.7% |
| Metron Analysis | 29 August 2007 | 29.7% | 28.1% | 8.1% | 4.7% | 3.6% | 2.6% | 10.5% | 17.4% |
| GPO | 29 August 2007 | 36.0% | 34.8% | 7.0% | 4.5% | 4.9% | 2.1% | ' | 10.7% |
| ALCO | 29 August 2007 | 31.6% | 30.9% | 6.2% | 3.4% | 3.3% | 1.8% | 8.7% | 15.9% |
| Public Issue/VPRC (vote projection)* | 31 August 2007 | 42.0% | 38.0% | 8.5% | 5.0% | 4.0% | 2.5% | ' | ' |
| MRB | 31 August 2007 | 35.4% | 33.3% | 7.5% | 4.7% | 3.7% | ' | ' | ' |
| GPO | 31 August 2007 | 37.4% | 36.0% | 7.6% | 4.2% | 4.7% | ' | ' | ' |
| ALCO | 31 August 2007 | 31.5% | 30.8% | 6.5% | 3.7% | 3.6% | ' | ' | ' |
- Public Issue/VPRC notes that their report is a prediction based on the time-series of opinion polls they have conducted.
After September 1st, no more opinion polls will be published by major television stations and news organizations. Initial conclusions from the polls publicised so far are:
- The next Parliament will most likely be a five-party Parliament.
- New Democracy holds a small lead over PASOK, but the difference is within the statistical error. The result of the elections is at this point unpredictable.
- The goal of a workable parliamentary majority hangs on the brink, with some pollers projecting 147-149 and some 151-153 seats for the leading party.
Recent Developments
- August 22, 2007: The Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI) (6th largest party in the previous elections) announced its electoral alliance with the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA).[4]
- August 29, 2007: Opinion pollers MRB came under criticism from PASOK. Mathematical inconcistencies were alleged, such as response tallies summing up to more than 100%. MRB denied the allegations. MRB's parent company, Spot-Thompson Greece, are New Democracy's advertisers.[citation needed]
- August 30, 2007: MRB came under more fire as it cancelled publication of its regular biannual "Trends" survey, citing extreme difficulty in obtaining accurate information in the fire-stricken areas. Critics say that this admission automatically renders previous voting behavior MRB estimates from these areas unreliable.[citation needed]
- September 1, 2007: The Areios Pagos refused to certify Fofi Gennimata as a candidate for the PASOK nationwide list, citing non-eligibility because Mrs. Gennimata is elected the superprefect of Athens and Piraeus. This was criticised angrily by PASOK as an attempt to politicise the courts.[5]
- September 2, 2007: The Areios Pagos:
- refused to include the title of DIKKI in the electoral alliance of SYRIZA claiming that the internal procedures followed by DIKKI were flawed. This was criticised furiously by SYRIZA and DIKKI as inappropriate interference in party political activity on behalf of the courts.[6]
- refused to allow the New Fascism (Template:Lang-gr) party contest the election because of its provocative name. [7]
- refused to allow the New Salvation Party - Christian Democracy to use the Cross as its logo on the grounds that it is a religious symbol.[7]
- excluded seven other parties from the elections for failure to pay the required electoral deposit.[7]
- September 6, 2007: NET state television, in simulcast with the major private TV stations, broadcast the debate between the leaders of ND, PASOK, KKE, SYRIZA, LAOS, and DA, who were questioned by six reporters in six rounds of questions and follow-ups. Questions and responses were rotated and timed. The debate lasted approximately 2.5 hours and concluded with a 2-minute speech by each leader. The debate format, agreed beforehand by the participating parties, met with criticism for being too rigid and formal, too protective of the politicians and not conducive to exhaustive scrutiny of their policies.[citation needed]
- September 10, 2007: "Rolling" polls conducted every day indicate that the percentage difference between the two leading parties is within the statistical margin of error and at the same time significantly smaller than the percentage of voters who state that they are still unsure of what to vote. This portends that the election result will be unpredictable until the very last moment.[citation needed]
Contesting parties
The following parties (listed according to their performance in the last legislative election, with new parties at the bottom) have declared that are contesting the elections. The full list will be known on August 31, the deadline for nominations.
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. |
Template:Greek legislative election, 2007
Procedure
The law traditionally requires that voting begins at "sunrise" and ends at "sunset". In practice this is rounded up to the nearest top of the hour. Voting will begin at 7 AM and conclude at 7 PM. 7 PM is also the time when the media are allowed to publicize their exit polls and issue their predictions. According to SingularLogic, the official IT contractor of the Ministry of the Interior, initial returns will not reach statistical significance before 11 PM and firm estimates might not emerge until after midnight. Voting will take place in 20,509 polling stations -mostly schools- throughout the country, each of which will cater to 400-500 voters on average.
Notes
- ^ [1]
- ^ [2]
- ^ Most of the earlier polls refer to the Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology, which is part of the SYRIZA coalition.
- ^ 22/8/2007 DIKKI press release
- ^ 3/9/2007 article by Phileleftheros
- ^ 2/9/2007 DIKKI press release
- ^ a b c "Σε ποιους «έδειξε πόρτα» ο Αρειος Πάγος", in Eleftheros Typos, 3 September 2007
External links
- Official Interior Ministry results page for elections
- Official proclamation of all the candidates by the Supreme Court (in Greek)
- Far right given election boost by Greek fires by Daniel Howden in The Independent of London, 04 September 2007
- Anger Over Fires Clouds Greek Election by Pattrick Quinn in The Guardian, August 29, 2007
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