2023 Piraean regional elections

2023 Piraean regional elections

9 July 2023
195 seats in the regional parliaments of Foinikas, Sitia, Lampi and Souda Riviera
Registered	4,474,936
Turnout	3,090,513 (69%; 2.1pp)
Regional administrations before the 2023 regional elections      PSEE-led government      LK-led government           PSEE-YLE-coalition government                PSEE-YLE-APE-coalition government

Regional elections or Super Saturday (Piraean: Σούπερ Κυριακή) as media named it, were held in Piraea to elect 195 seats in the regional parliaments of 4 regions—Foinikas, Sitia, Lampi and Souda Riviera—concluding with the election of new Minister-Presidents. They were held simultaneously with the local elections in cities and provinces.

Elections were marked by an early end of campaign, after a human remains were found in an Army base. The campaign saw the creation of a new sector to the right of the People's Party, which forced the collapse of Homeland, with many of its former members abandoning the formation. Sectors of the centre were rapidly affected, accelerating a trend started during the 2022 general election, which concluded with Democrats staying out of two of the new regional legislatures. The PSEE was severely harmed and lost the majority in Souda Riviera, while it suffered an important vote regression in Sitia being equalised with the centre-right in number of seats. The party of government, the People's Party, won an absolute majority in the legislature of Foinikas, became the first force in the Souda Riviera and is capable of forming a government in the region of Sitia.

Several political analysts have pointed to the regional elections as the end of Percederation in the Piraean politics, with the People's Party returning to be an effective first power in the political space of the liberal centre-right. Following the general elections, the government announced changes in the structure of the cabinet, with a reduction of ministers, and the addition of Nicholaos Pierrakis to the new portfolio of Finance, Budget and Public Function; Georgios Konstantinou has also stated the intentions of holding a snap election, although no date has been proposed yet.

Electoral date

The election day might vary in every region of Piraea, as in some cases, Minister-Presidents might dissolve the regional legislature to serve a new four year-term. This is the case of Samariá, which held elections in 2020 inaugurating a completely new set of four years. In Foinikas, Sitia, Lampi and Souda Riviera, the date must follow the rule of the second Sunday of July.

Campaign

General Council of the Judiciary deadlock

During the final months of 2022, the Minister of Justice, Christoforos Kostopoulos-Kolokotronis, expressed the government's concern for the expiral date of several members of the General Council of the Judiciary, setting a date to produce an agreement with the PSEE that could renovate the mandates. However, during the first months of 2023, the inability of the People's Party and the PSEE to dialogue, elevated the tensions between the two forces.

Following the election of the Presidency of Piraea —in which the PSEE was not able to reach the votes for its candidates in the Senate—, a number of socialist members of the senate grouped together to ask the dismissal of Eleftheria Rodiales from the General Secretary of the party. A month later, the party chose the former Minister of Infrastructure during the Panopoulos government, Antonis Moustakopoulos, to succeed Rodiales amid record lows in opinion polls.

In March, the situation of the magistrature covered headlines once again, after a number of negotiations between the two parties failed and the conservative magistrate Romulos Kapos-Tanou renounced to his position denouncing a lack of credibility in the institution and the harm of the deadlock. The People's Party accused the opposition from blocking a crucial institution, while the PSEE considered the LK conditions for renovation unfavourable for state of law adding that the conservative party was changing judges to their own benefit. The crisis forced the Presidency to mediate between the two, and draft a possible route map to elect the new members of the magistrature as well as change the law through which judges get to be chosen.

Electoral campaign

A PSEE rally in Kissamos, Souda Riviera.

In the period prior to the beginning of the official campaign, political parties and government started sending their messages to their possible electorates and the polarisation of national politics was introduced into the regional sphere. The pre-campaign period was marked, not only by the judicial deadlock, but also by the consolidation of the People's Party post-Percederation, reaffirming the results of the 2022 general election; this hurt the rest of the centre-right, affecting mostly Democrats, which is in a process of considering merging with the People's Party in a number of regions.

A start of campaign rally led by Ignatios Anthou-Pavlides, candidate in the Souda Riviera.

The electoral campaign started with an internal crisis in the far-right party Homeland, leading to the formation of Force Piraea by a number of former Homeland Members of the Senate. During the start of the campaign, the 2023 Weranian federal election was seen as an important factor of change for the People's Party, as its outcome could define the future of Piraea's accession to the Euclean Community; at the same time, Konstantinou government's received internal pressure from sectors of the party, after former premier Evangelos Polakis supported the party's candidate in Sitia, Eliza Andreadoglou, in a rally that counted with numerous critics to the current premier. Following Werania's election, the newspaper I Naftemporiki revealed that the government considered holding a snap election in the upcoming months after the regional elections take place, in order to get closer to the absolute majority in the Piraean Senate. The government finally revealed the decision, considering the deadlock in the justice and the need to pass extensive policy in order to cope with EC deadlines.

The decision to hold a snap election has been criticised by the centre-left and sectors to the centre of the People's Party, for being favourable to the People's Party, taking the campaign period to cover numerous issues that were far from the regional sphere. During 5 July, an investigation led by the Piraean National Commission for Human Rights in the 9th division of the Army, found human remains of what could be a forced disappearance from the Second Piraean Republic. The campaign was suspended by the executive and the rest of political parties.

Regional governments

Region	Current control		New control
9 July
Foinikas		People's Party (LK)		People's Party (LK)
Souda Riviera		Piraese Socialist Workers Union (PSEE)		People's Party (LK)
Sitia		Piraese Socialist Workers Union (PSEE)		People's Party (LK)
Lampi		Independent Regionalist Union (APE)		Piraese Socialist Workers Union (PSEE)
Does not vote
Samariá		Green Alternative (PEL)

Participating parties

Candidacy		Leading candidates Foinikas, Lampi, Sitia, Souda Riviera				Ideology	Previous result		Gov.
							Votes (%)	Seats
						Liberal conservatism Economic liberalism Christian democracy	—	—	Y
						Progressivism Social democracy Secularism Pro-Eucleanism	—	—	Y Y Y
						Progressivism Green politics Democratic socialism Socialism Councilism (factions) Pro-Eucleanism	—	—	Y
						Centrist politics Humanism Social liberalism Liberalism Pro-Eucleanism	—	—
						Regionalism Federalism Environmentalism Pro-Eucleanism	—	—	Y
						Centrist politics Anti-corruption Third option Pro-Eucleanism	—	—
						Economic liberalism Social liberalism Centrism Pro-Eucleanism	—	—
						Sotirian Democracy Big-Tent Minority interests Novalian interests Populism	—	—	Y
						Right-wing populism Social conservatism Nationalism	—	—

Overall results

Foinikas

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Party	171,179	50.90	25	2
	Piraese Socialist Workers Union	88,784	26.40	11	1
	Popular Unity Candidacy	33,630	10.00	4	New
	Change	10,761	3.20	1	2
	Democrats	2,354	0.70	0	4
	Independent Regionalist Union	13,452	4.00	2	0
	Novalian People's Party	16,142	4.80	2	0
Total		336,302	100.00	45	45
Valid votes		336,302	98.04
Invalid/blank votes		6,726	1.96
Total votes		343,028	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		548,623	62.53

Lampi

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Party	50,434	23.48	8	0
	Piraese Socialist Workers Union	63,144	29.40	9	1
	Popular Unity Candidacy	33,630	15.66	3	New
	Humanist Centre	9,280	4.32	2	1
	Independent Regionalist Union	41,154	19.16	5	4
	Novalian People's Party	7,464	3.48	1	2
	Force Piraea	9,683	4.51	2	New
Total		214,789	100.00	30	30
Valid votes		214,789	97.08
Invalid/blank votes		6,455	2.92
Total votes		221,244	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		297,551	74.35

Sitia

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Party	218,767	40.10	22	2
	Piraese Socialist Workers Union	229,132	42.00	22	1
	Popular Unity Candidacy	21,822	4.00	3	New
	Change	15,275	2.80	1	2
	Democrats	10,911	2.00	0	3
	Independent Regionalist Union	2,727	0.50	0	2
	Humanist Centre	22,913	4.20	5	2
	Force Piraea	24,004	4.40	2	New
Total		545,551	100.00	55	55
Valid votes		545,551	98.23
Invalid/blank votes		9,819	1.77
Total votes		555,370	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		753,528	73.70

Souda Riviera

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	People's Party	826,848	41.20	29	3
	Piraese Socialist Workers Union	610,101	30.40	21	4
	Popular Unity Candidacy	200,691	10.00	7	New
	Change	80,276	4.00	3	2
	Democrats	40,138	2.00	1	6
	Humanist Centre	168,580	8.40	6	1
	Force Piraea	80,276	4.00	3	New
Total		2,006,910	100.00	70	55
Valid votes		2,006,910	97.56
Invalid/blank votes		50,172	2.44
Total votes		2,057,082	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		2,875,234	71.54