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PM wants election law changed, ND leader Mitsotakis opposed

Possible changes in Greece’s election law topped the agenda of political developments on Thursday, as the government recently – and for some abruptly — announced initiatives for constitutional revision and modifications towards a more simple representational system.

The issues dominated a meeting between Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and main opposition New Democracy (ND) leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who met in the former’s Maximos Mansion office, but with the latter appearing negative over the prospect of election law changes by the current Parliament plenum.

In a later Tweet via his personal account, the Greek prime minister wrote that “conditions are now mature for a change in the election law and constitutional revision.” 

On his part, the center-right main opposition leader emphasized that the “rules of the game cannot change … the country needs stable governments, something that is served by the current election law.”

Mitsotakis nevertheless said his party is most definitely interested in giving expatriate Greeks the right to vote in Greek elections and in breaking up a handful of large election districts.

He also said he was not presented with a specific proposal by Tsipras for changes in the election law.

Asked about constitutional revision, he repeated that New Democracy favors an extensive revision.