European Parliament elections were held in
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
on 7 June 2009 to elect the 22 Greek members of the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
. Members were elected by
party-list proportional representation
Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be us ...
with a 3% electoral threshold. The number of seats allocated to Greece was reduced from 24 to 22, as a result of new member states joining the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...
(EU). Consistent with EU-wide rules, Greek citizens resident in another of the 26-member states were permitted to vote in the place where they currently reside.
Participating parties
On 24 May, the
Greek Court of Cassation, the country's supreme court, accepted the applications of 27 of the 33 parties which applied to contest the elections. It banned six parties from participating:
*
Alternative Ecologists
The Alternative Ecologists (), officially the Federation of Ecologists and Alternative Groups, was a federation of several groups created after the good performance of an autonomous electoral platform also called Alternative Ecologists in the 198 ...
*Party of Responsible Citizenship
*Dimokratiki
*Party of Uprising Pensioners of Greece
*Panagriarian Workers Movement
*Political Greek-European Animal-Loving Movement
*Animal-Loving Ecologists of Greece
In addition, the court ruled that the following parties could not participate as part of the
Coalition of the Radical Left
The Coalition of the Radical Left – Progressive Alliance ( el, Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς – Προοδευτική Συμμαχία, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás – Proodeftikí Simachía), ...
:
*
Democratic Social Movement
*
Movement of Active Citizens
*
Movement for the United in Action Left
Movement for the United in Action Left ( el, Κίνηση για την Ενότητα Δράσης της Αριστεράς abbreviated ΚΕΔΑ-''KEDA'') was a political party in Greece that was part of the Coalition of the Radical Left.
Histo ...
*Kokkino
*
Xekinima
*
Ecosocialists of Greece
*
ROZA
A judicial dispute ensued, when
Drassi
Drassi (, "Action") was a liberal political party in Greece. The party was founded in 2009 by Stefanos Manos and was led by former New Democracy member Theodoros Skylakakis.
The party had no representation in the Hellenic Parliament or European ...
filed a petition before the
Council of State
A Council of State is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head o ...
to annul the ministerial decision, through which the time for political advertising spots on the radio and television would be allocated, since it disproportionately favoured established parties. A preliminary ruling sent the dispute to the Council of State's plenary session, which will hear the petition for annulment on 25 September 2009.
Opinion polls
Results
Further reading
*
References
{{Greek elections
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
European Parliament elections in Greece
2009 in Greek politics
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...