Thursday, May 3, 2012

A guide to Greek politics before the election

Nick Malkoutzis of the Ekathimerini has compiled this remarkable analysis of the painful transition which Greek political parties (and their electorate) find themselves in. It takes time to read it but that is time well spent.

One question which I have had for a long time has been answered in this paper: what percentage of the vote do ND/PASOK need to get in order to have a combined majority? The answer is --- that depends! 

"If support for the parties that remain outside Parliament combines to make 3 per cent, then the winning party or the parties that will form a coalition will need to get 39.2 per cent of the vote. If the unsuccessful parties garner a combined vote of 10 per cent, the threshold for the winning party or the coalition drops to 36.4 per cent. The latest Public Issue poll predicted that the non-parliamentary parties would get a total of 9 per cent".

Given the fact that ND/PASOK had always garnered between 77,40% - 86,86% of the vote in the last 30 years, one would think that to get 36,40% of the vote this time around should be a piece of cake.

Or should it not?

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