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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis hailed his party’s victory in parliamentary elections as a “political earthquake” after the conservatives won a landslide victory but failed to form a majority.
With the majority of votes counted after Sunday’s election, the ruling New Democracy party secured a significant lead with 40.8% of the vote, while the previous ruling party, Syriza, trailed far behind with 20.1% for the 300-seat Hellenic Parliament. .
However, Mitsokais’ party failed to secure the necessary majority to form a government on its own, as the fate of the new government still hangs in limbo.
According to projections by Greece’s interior ministry, New Democracy is expected to win 145 seats in parliament, which is six seats short of an absolute majority.
Starting Monday, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will give each of the three main parties – New Democracy, Syriza and the socialist PASOK – three days to try to form a coalition government.
If all three parties fail, Ms Sakellaropoulou will appoint an interim government to prepare for new elections to be held about a month later.
Without Mitsotakis, the numbers of possible coalitions do not add up, as Syriza has 72 seats, PASOK has 41, the communist party KKE has 26 seats and the right-wing Hellenic Solution party has 16 seats.
The KKE party has already declared that it will not participate in any alliance, while the Hellenic Solution party has been critical of both New Democracy and Syriza.
Mitsotakis, who served as prime minister and leader of the New Democracy leader, had expressed his desire for a strong one-party government, but believes the election results provide a clear mandate.
Addressing supporters outside party headquarters in Athens, Mitsotakis called his party’s victory a “political earthquake”.
“The results of the polls are decisive. They show that New Democracy has the approval of the people to govern, strong and autonomous.”
This victory for Mr Mitsotakis is quite significant as his administration faced numerous challenges including a wiretapping scandal, the Covid-19 pandemic, a cost of living crisis and a deadly train accident which caused public outrage.
However, it represents a significant setback for Syriza and its leader Alexis Tsipras, who came to power in 2015 on the back of a wave of public dissatisfaction with other parties’ handling of the debt crisis that severely affected the ‘Greek economy for more than a decade.
The MeRA25 movement, led by former Syriza finance minister Yanis Varoufakis, failed to win any seats in parliament.
Tsipras, who congratulated Mitsotakis on his victory, noted that the race is not over and spoke of the possibility of a second election.
“Battles have victories and defeats,” he said. “The election cycle is not over yet … it is very possible that there will be a second election.”
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center under the Greek flag, speaks to his supporters during his election campaign in northern Athens
(AP)
Greece faced the threat of an exit from the eurozone during the height of its debt crisis in 2015, prompting the country to accept a third bailout under Tsipras.
Mitsotakis, elected in 2019, focused his campaign on improving the financial conditions of the Greek people, promising to increase wages and pensions that were cut during the crisis.
Panos Koliastasis, assistant adjunct professor of politics at the University of the Peloponnese, attributed Mitsotakis’ victory to his emphasis on addressing financial concerns and his clear proposal for an autonomous government.
“He also had a clear proposal of (how) he will be in power: that of an autonomous government,” he said.
“Syriza’s alternative of a coalition government was not that realistic because others refused to cooperate.”
Elections in Greece are held every four years to determine the composition of the 300-seat parliament.
Additional reports by agencies
