Voters in Greece go to the polls

Greece held general elections on Sunday amid deep divisions between the two main parties and smaller parties expected to gain parliamentary seats.

With no party expected to gain an overall majority, the result could lead to a drawn-out process of forming a government, reported the Reuters news agency.

The New Democracy party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has remained ahead in recent polls, as the main opposition Syriza party, led by Alexis Tsipras, has been unable to make a significant impact amid rising inflation and the fallout from a deadly train crash in February.

Rules for the ballot set a high bar for an absolute majority that no party is likely to clear, and a revised electoral system of proportional representation could mean a second round of voting on July 2.

"The party ranking first needs over 45 percent of the electorate in order to create a single party administration, something which it seems is quite unlikely," political analyst Panos Koliastasis told Reuters.

Almost 10 million Greeks were eligible to vote, with latest polls giving the incumbent prime minister a 5 to 7 percentage point lead, on between 31-38 percent.

The formerly dominant Pasok socialist party, which has been polling at 10 percent of the vote, is expected to be central to any coalition negotiations, reported Euronews.

A total 32 parties are competing for votes, but polls indicate only six have a good chance of earning seats in Parliament by meeting the 3 percent threshold.

Ahead of the election, Mitsotakis and Tsipras held closing rallies, where Mitsotakis promised to build a "new Greece", while Tsipras called for an end to the "nightmare" of his rival's term, local media reported.

Greece has seen economic stability for over 10 years after experiencing debt difficulties, however, increasing living expenses remain an issue.

Opposition parties have repeatedly raised the Feb 28 rail disaster that left 57 people dead as a symptom of a broken government and dysfunctional state, noted the BBC.

Megan Greene, global chief economist at Kroll Institute told the Politico news website that New Democracy is pushing for digitalization in the economy and an investment-led recovery.

"Syriza is unsurprisingly more focused on improving collective goods such as health and education and on inclusive growth," she said.

"Both parties are focused on the cost-of-living crisis and boosting real wage growth and both parties are doing some soul-searching over how best to address the collective failure of the train crash," she added.

The Greek economy is one of the fastest growing in the EU, according to 2022 data from the European Commission, but the country still struggles with many of the issues that have hampered growth for decades, such as bureaucracy and tax evasion, said Politico.