Government to present electoral law reform proposal within the week

The coalition government is expected to submit its proposal for a reform of the electoral law within the week, which will likely be based on proportional representation.

According to a report in Ta Nea there were disagreements in the meetings between the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the other political leaders, particularly in breaking down the larger constituencies. Nevertheless it appears that there is a broad consensus for lowering the voting age to 17 and abolishing the 50-seat bonus.

The Independent Greeks, PASOK, the Communist Party and the Union of Centrists all favor the abolition of the 50-seat bonus, with New Democracy and the River preferring to maintain, but reduce the bonus.

In order for the government’s electoral reform proposal to pass and be implemented in the next elections, the bill must be supported by at least 2/3s of Parliament. Otherwise, if it passes with a simple majority vote, the new electoral system will be implemented in the elections after next.

At present the government is hoping to convince the Communist Party on the need to maintain the 3% threshold for entering Parliament. In this case, the SYRIZA/Independent Greeks government believes that it will be able to pressure the River into supporting its proposal, given that party leader Stavros Theodorakis has public supported a more proportionate electoral system.