There are many basketball fans who walk along the promenade at the marina in Piraeus. One of them is 19-year-old Giorgos. On 21 May there are elections for a new national assembly in Greece, but like many other young people he has not done his civic duty. The reason is that he comes from Sparta, and that is where he has to vote. So he has prioritized the basketball game instead of the election. – I had to go to Athens already yesterday, and it would have been tiring to drive three hours to Sparta and then drive back to Athens to see the match. Follow the tally of the votes at the election in Greece here: Must have applied three months before the election Giorgos is not alone. About 200,000 potential voters work in the tourist industry on the Greek islands. Many people have long days and it is expensive to take a ferry or fly to their hometown to vote. It is possible to apply to vote elsewhere. But in practice it is not possible. Giorgos said he tried to apply to vote in Athens, and the answer he got surprised him: – I had to apply three months before the election to be able to vote somewhere else. But that means that I had to have applied before the election was announced, so it was very strange, he says. – The system prevents young people from voting. Outside the port city of Piraeus, we meet a member of parliament for the opposition party Syriza, Nikos Mpelavilas. He comes humming along on a motorcycle and smokes rolls. Nikos Mpelavilas represents the port city of Piraeus in the National Assembly. Photo: Andras D.Hajdu Piraeus is a real working-class area, and Mpelavilas is a local political legend who fights for the left in Greek politics. – I think the system prevents young people from voting. Because their vote will be against the traditional Greek politicians, he says. – Greek youth are well educated but they do not have work. They look at how the politicians set up scandals. Those who have work do not get a salary they can live on, he adds. Mpelavilas hopes the youth will eventually win over the political elite. But it will take time. Confident Deputy Finance Minister We meet Deputy Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis at the fashionable Old Britannia hotel. He is dressed in a suit and tie. The New Democracy party represents the business community and they can show economic progress during the period they have held government power. Deputy Finance Minister Theodoros Skylakakis is confident of victory, although there may need to be a second round. Photo: Andras D.Hajdu – Gross domestic product has grown by 25 billion euros, and we have a lower interest rate than Italy. This is good for those who want to invest, he says. When it comes to young people, the government has presented its programme. Now it is up to them to make a choice. A tragic train shutdown in February led to large demonstrations against the government. 57 people, many of them students, lost their lives. A wiretapping scandal has also led to criticism. Nevertheless, Skylakakis tells news that he is quite sure of the victory: – It’s a bit like playing poker. If you’re sitting around the table and don’t know who the loser is, it’s usually you. It has been a calm election campaign and it is a signal that there will be no change of government this time. He also underlines that it is a good signal that there has been an orderly election campaign, and he probably thinks, as the party has positioned itself, that a second round of elections will be necessary to be able to put a government on its feet. The counting of the first votes may indicate that the deputy finance minister is right. The New Democracy party is likely to become the largest party after Sunday’s parliamentary election. Nevertheless, it does not appear that the party will get enough representatives in parliament to obtain a majority.
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– The electoral system prevents young people from voting – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
