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14 parties, 5 coalitions contest Greek Sept. 20 national polls

Xinhua, September 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

A total of 14 parties and five coalitions are to contest the Sept. 20 snap national polls in Greece with the SYRIZA party and the conservatives of New Democracy among the front runners, according to latest surveys.

Greece's Supreme Court approved their participation, while seven other parties were rejected due to technicalities.

In the previous general elections on Jan. 25 this year, a total of 18 parties and four coalitions had run.

Pollsters see seven parties and one coalition (the socialists of PASOK who are running together with the Democratic Left) entering the new parliament.

According to all opinion polls, no party will get close to gaining absolute parliamentary majority. Therefore, whoever wins Sunday's battle will be forced to seek coalition partnerships the next day.

Former prime minister Alexis Tsipras has said that SYRIZA would prefer to renew its coalition partnership with the right-wing Independent Greeks. But polls indicate that the party may not secure the needed 3 percent of votes threshold to enter the assembly.

According to political analysts, in case the conservatives win the first place, both SYRIZA and ND will most likely turn to the centrist Potami (River) party or PASOK-Democratic Left which are vying for the fourth place behind the ultra-right Golden Dawn party.

Greece's new parliament is expected to include also the Greek Communist Party KKE, and the anti-bailout Popular Unity party which was formed in late August by SYRIZA hardliners when Tsipras' government quit after the ratification of Greece's third bailout in five years.

Pollsters expect the centre-left Union of Centrists, a party of marginal influence over the past two decades, to enter the new assembly. Endit