Today, June 25, Greeks go to the polls for the second time in less than a month to elect a new parliament , in which the conservative faction of former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to win.
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| Former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to receive a majority of voters' support. |
The June 25 election comes after a migrant shipwreck on June 14, in which hundreds of people are believed to have died off the coast of southern Greece, one of the worst disasters in recent years, underscoring the divisions on the issue of migration.
Mr Mitsotakis' New Democracy party won the election on 21 May, by more than 20 points over the leftist Syriza party, which ruled Greece from 2015 to 2019.
However, the conservatives still lacked the majority needed to govern without a coalition, prompting a second vote under different rules that would have given the winning party a comfortable majority in the 300-seat parliament.
As required by the constitution, Mr Mitsotakis, prime minister since 2019, resigned in favour of an interim prime minister after an inconclusive vote last month. Polls in recent days have shown New Democracy with more than 40% of the vote, while Syriza, led by Alexis Tsipras, has around 20%.
Polling stations opened at 7am (0400 GMT) across Greece and closed 12 hours later, with results expected to be announced at around 5pm (GMT).
As Greece prepares for elections, the train disaster has overshadowed other issues, including the cost of living crisis, while a serious train accident in February also exposed shortcomings in the country's public transport system.
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