SYRIZA files complaint over TV airtime

The spokesman for the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA), which came second in the June 17 general elections, filed a complaint with Greece’s media watchdog on Friday accusing broadcasters of not giving the party it fair share of airtime. Panos Skourletis on Friday wrote to the National Council for Radio & Television demanding that it intervene to ensure that the leftist party is accorded the airtime that corresponds to its electoral performance. SYRIZA came second in last Sunday’s general elections with 27 percent of the vote, just under three points down from New Democracy’s 29.7 percent.

According to Skourletis, he was prompted to send the complaint due to the way television news bulletins have been presenting the party since the June 17 vote and by the priority granted to speakers from SYRIZA on talk shows. “The order of parties’ parliamentary power cannot and should not be violated, and neither can the presentation time they are given be encroached,» Skourletis said in his letter.

Parties are normally allocated airtime in proportion to the share of the vote they gain at the polls.

Ekathimerini.com