Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s conservatives won an absolute majority in Greece’s legislative elections on Sunday, allowing him to start a new term as the country’s prime minister.
New Democracy (ND), in power from 2019 until the end of May this year, obtained 40.55% of the votes, that is, more than double that of its main opponent, Alexis Tsipras’s Syriza (left), according to results. partial corresponding to more than 97% of the votes.
Syriza, which had already suffered a severe setback in the first round five weeks ago, won just 17.84% of the vote, 2.2 percentage points less than on May 21.
This result will secure 158 of the 300 seats in the unicameral parliament on the right, analysts say.
With this result, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, belonging to a long line of political leaders, will regain the post of Prime Minister from which he had to abdicate at the end of May, before the holding of the legislative elections.
“The people, for the second time in a few weeks, gave us a strong mandate to move towards the great changes that the country needs,” the 55-year-old leader congratulated his supporters.
In the campaign, Mitsotakis promised salary increases, particularly for those with lower incomes -the main concern of Greek citizens in the face of the high cost of living-, and he did not fail to highlight the economic balance of his four-year term, marked by the growth – – 5.9% in 2022 — and the drop in unemployment, after a decade of crisis.
“New Democracy is the strongest center-right party in Europe,” he stressed.
Four years after coming to power, New Democracy improves the result in relation to the 2019 legislative elections, in which it collected 39.85% of the votes.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis obtained 40.79% of the vote on May 21, but this increase did not give him the absolute majority necessary to form a government without having to ally with other parties.
Then he asked for new elections to be called, relying on a scrutiny method that gives the party with the most votes a “bonus” that can reach up to 50 legislatures.
Before Mitsotakis, Alexis Tsipras suffered another heavy defeat, after the one five weeks ago, when Syriza fell to 20.07% of the vote, a drop of more than 11.5 percentage points compared to 2019.
The question of his continuation in the leadership of the party now arises, after, after the defeat on May 21, the former Greek prime minister (2015-2019) admitted that he had considered resigning.
“It was an uphill battle […]the result is obviously negative for us,” Tsipras acknowledged today, adding that “a great historical cycle” has ended for the party, which needs major changes, for which he called on its members to “judge” its leadership, making internal elections foreseeable in Syriza soon.
By turning away from Syriza in large numbers, Greek voters seem to show that they definitely want to “turn the page” after years of deep financial crisis and bailout plans with severe conditions have impoverished them considerably.
Syriza remains, however, the main Greek opposition party, followed by the Pasok-Kinal socialists, the KKE communists and four small formations, including the Spartans, who obtained 4.6% of the vote.
This party has the support of a former leader of the neo-Nazi formation Golden Dawn, Ilias Kassidiaris, who is currently serving a sentence of 13 and a half years in prison.
Golden Dawn leaders and cadres, who first elected MPs in 2012, at the height of the Greek crisis, were sentenced to heavy prison terms for murder and violence against immigrants and left-wing supporters.
“The election of far-right parties, including the Spartans, with fascist connotations and links […]it is a negative development,” commented Alexis Tsipras.
Source: TSF
