Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Saturday that a new law will be brought to Parliament which will “lift all barriers in the vote of Greeks living abroad.”
Speaking in the Hellenic Parliament before a vote of confidence for New Democracy’s second term in power, the Greek premier added that the new law will provide that all registered citizens will be able to vote in the Greek elections from their country of residence.
Mitsotakis stated that the new law for the vote of diaspora Greeks will open for public consultation next week.
Greek government wins vote of confidence based solely on New Democracy deputies
New Democracy received the vote of confidence on Saturday night in Parliament with an absolutely majority, based solely on the votes of its deputies, while other parties voted against.
The party received a vote of confidence from 158 out of 300 deputies in a roll-call vote, while the remaining 142 deputies from all opposition parties turned down the vote of confidence.
In his closing address following a three-day debate on policy statements for his second term in power, the Prime Minister reiterated the goals of the government in receiving investment grade, improving salaries and reducing inequalities, and digitizing the state further.
“The time has come for work, Greece’s needs for change are great and the responsibilities are grave, while the high election percentage does not mean a carte blanche,” Mitsotakis concluded.
The parties of the opposition in the new Parliament are SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, PASOK-Movement for Change (KINAL), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), Spartiates, Greek Solution-Kyriakos Velopoulos, Democratic Patriotic Movement ‘Niki’, and Plefsi Eleftherias-Zoi Konstantopoulou.
Greeks living abroad voted for the first time in 2023 elections
The general elections which took place in May and June 2023 were the first to allow Greeks living abroad to exercise their right to vote from their place of residence, provided they met the criteria in the relevant legislation.
According to the final results provided by the Ministry of Interior, the difference between conservative New Democracy (ND) and leftist SYRIZA was 23.58% in the first round of the elections in May, with the two parties collecting 42.62% and 19.04% respectively.
In the second round of the elections in June, with three in five votes counted, New Democracy had won 41.94% of the vote, followed by SYRIZA with 17.24%.
Nonetheless, critics point out that the Greek diaspora was mostly absent from the parliamentary elections, as only 22,816 out of millions of Greeks residing all over the world were entitled to vote.
Greek officials had previously estimated that some 300,000 citizens living outside the country wanted to have a say in the next election.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
