If you believe numerous polls that have fixated the Greek public over t6he past several weeks, opposition center-right party Ne Democracy is expected to seize power from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Syriza party in the national elections on July 7, 2019.
The country is heading for elections three months earlier than scheduled, after Tsipras called snap polls after a stinging defeat of his party in European Parliament and local elections in May.
A poll by MRB for the Ta Nea newspaper showed New Democracy, headed by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, nine points ahead with 35.4%-40.4% of the vote, broadly consistent with the results of the European elections.
Another poll by Metron Analysis for the weekly To Vima newspaper showed similar results with Mitsotakis at 38.5% of the vote and Tsipras at 29.5%.
Mitsotakis, 51, is a U.S.-educated ex-venture capitalist and scion of a powerful political family who has mapped out his moves carefully since assuming the helm of New Democracy in early 2016.
His father, Constantinos, was prime minister of Greece from 1990 to 1993 and served for a long time as an imposing force in Greek politics, while his sister, Dora Bakoyiannis, served as foreign minister of the country under New Democracy governments, as well as mayor of Athens from 2002-2006.
“I believe what most opinion polls seem to indicate, that New Democracy will be very close to not only being first, but having enough votes in parliament in order to have an autonomous opportunity to run the country for the next predictable years,” said Theodore Couloumbis, a political analyst in a Reuters interview.
Mitsotakis has promised to reduce taxes, including a huge commitment to cut corporate tax to 20% from 28% now within two years and tax on dividends to 5% from 10%, also within the next two years. It would also examine cuts in income tax and VAT rates and reduce property tax by almost a third.
Greece’s civil service can also expect some changes. Mr Mitsotakis has committed his party to hiring just one public servant for every five who leave, and has promised to bring in non-politicians and technocrats to overhaul the entire sector.
“They have taken more money out of people’s pockets than it was necessary so I plan to return some of it back to people and to the corporations in order to hopefully reinvest the proceeds in order to grow the economy,” Mitsotakis told Reuters in an interview in April.
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