GStinking politicians are courting an estimated 430,000 Gen Z voters, some as young as 16, as the country prepares for a general election, using TikTok and YouTube to appeal to what could be a key demographic.
A smile crosses Stefanos Tsiandis’s face when the conversation turns to a survey as discreet as it is unpredictable. As a first-time voter, the 19-year-old knows exactly which party he’ll be rooting for when he casts his ballot on Sunday. But this, he adds, is rare. “Our vote counts, and mine will go to Pasok,” says the economics student, proudly posing with the flag of the center-left party he has just waved vigorously at a campaign rally under the Acropolis. “It’s disgusting how they are making all these promises to win our support. It says a lot about our political system.
“It’s really exciting. Many may be undecided, but you can be sure that they will not support them [centre-right] government.”
For the first time in years, Sunday’s election will be held under a proportional representation system, making it nearly impossible for any party to gain the majority in Athens’ 300-seat parliament needed to win outright. With an inconclusive result likely, a follow-up poll in early July, held under an electoral system that would hand out extra seats to the winner, is seen as inevitable.
But less than three months after 57 people died in central Greece following a head-on collision between a freight train and a passenger train that many believe could have been avoided, the race in which the government Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right defense is more tight. than expected And with polls estimating that up to 13% of the 8.5 million electorates are still undecided, every vote counts.
“Since the train was full of students returning from vacation, the accident triggered a huge emotional reaction among this segment of the population,” veteran political commentator Pavlos Tzimas said of the mass protests that followed the disaster. “And Greek women and youth make up a significant proportion of the undecided bloc.”
In the more than 40 years since Tzimas began observing Greece’s general elections, the run-up to Sunday’s poll marked the first time, he said, that political party leaders had attempted to appear on TV shows of lifestyle that were popular with both demographics. “Their vote could make the difference and politicians are nervous about what they’re going to do,” he said. “We’ve seen them compete with each other to get interviews on shows they would never normally appear on.”
New Democracy, Mitsotakis’ party, has led the polls despite a six-point lead over Syriza, the main left-wing opposition party, which has been hit by a wiretapping scandal and the crash railway in February, a tragedy that shattered the government’s reformist narrative.
Forced on the defensive, the 55-year-old leader was forced to delay the election after admitting the accident could have been avoided if proper safety measures had been put in place.
Opposition leader Alexis Tsipras has pledged to scrap strict university entry requirements and introduce low-cost home loans. Photograph: Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty
Only three EU countries allow under-18s to vote. In Greece, 17-year-olds (and 16-year-olds who turn 17 in an election year) were elected by legislation passed by Alexis Tsipras, the Syriza leader catapulted into office on a radical agenda in 2015.
Tsipras, like Mitsotakis, has also used TikTok and YouTube to attract first-time voters. While the government has pledged to deliver a €150 (£130) youth pass, announcing the “maturity” benefit barely two weeks before the poll, Syriza has tried to woo the younger generation by promising eliminate strict university entrance requirements. Low-interest loans for the purchase of housing for young people between 18 and 39 years have also been announced.
“I hope they keep their promises,” says Stella Papaconstantinou, who is not yet 17 but because she was born in 2006 will be able to vote on Sunday. “I have not decided who I will vote for. I’ve been trying to watch the news so I can make up my mind, but honestly I’m not sure I should have been given that right at this age. I would have liked to be a little more mature.”
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Mitsotakis wanted to emphasize the economic progress that Greece has made under his leadership since the height of the debt crisis and the near expulsion from the euro zone. In a campaign that has projected his party as the only stable option in an increasingly uncertain world, the country’s spectacular return to growth has been highlighted, supported by the drop in unemployment, the rise in tourism, foreign investment and the digitization of the public sector. “I’ve always believed that it takes two four-year terms for someone to change Greece,” he said last month, admitting that mistakes had been made since he took office in July 2019.
Tsipras, 48, has instead highlighted the nation’s democratic backsliding under Mitsotakis, calling the wiretapping scandal that included the security services wiretapping Pasok leader Nikos Androulakis a disgrace. Tsipras has pledged to fight inflation – blaming the cost of living crisis on vested interests – and improve public sector and health worker wages.
“Greece has Bulgarian salaries and British prices,” he said last week.
Androulakis, who could emerge as a kingmaker, has refused to support either Mitsotakis or Tsipras in a coalition government.
But few promises seem to ignite the fire of younger Greeks. With youth unemployment rising to 25%, many say they will, if they can, join the 500,000 who fled abroad during the debt crisis.
In a campaign that has been remarkably devoid of debate about the future, despite Greece’s aging population, pollsters believe it will be a miracle that the vast majority of newly empowered Greeks vote. “We are the lost generation,” said Maria Tsiandis, 22, Stefanos’ older sister. “First there was the crisis, then the pandemic; so much wasted time and dreams that no government can make up for.”
