Greece’s current conservative New Democracy Party shattered election expectations in the country over the weekend, paving the way for Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to form a majority government in the next round of elections.
The ruling New Democracy Party won the most votes in Sunday’s election, with 40.8 percent, according to figures compiled by Reuters. The conservative party’s results were well ahead of its main rival Syriza, a leftist party that held control of the government from 2015 to 2019, but only collected 20.1% of the vote on Sunday.
“The results of the vote are decisive,” Mitsotakis told his supporters as they arrived, according to Reuters. “They show that New Democracy has the approval of the people to govern, strong and autonomous.”
According to Endy Zemenides, the executive director of the American Hellenic Leadership Council, Sunday’s results are sure to send shock waves through the Greek political system, with New Democracy smashing the performance predicted by polls.
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Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis makes a speech during an election campaign event in Candia, on the island of Crete, Greece. (REUTERS/Louiza Vradi)
“Yesterday blew everything up,” Zemenides told Fox News Digital, adding that the result “not only beat the polls” but represented “the first time in 40 years that a sitting government better second time than first time.”
Polls before the election, Zeménides said, indicated that while no party could claim an outright majority, a collection of center-left and far-left parties would garner enough combined support to form a coalition government and overthrow the conservative party in government. In contrast, New Democracy outperformed its main rival by around 20 percentage points, while other left-wing parties, such as the Greek Communist Party, won even less support or did not even reach the threshold for seats in parliament.
The shock result, which Zemenides described as a “political earthquake” on social media as the results came in, sets the stage for New Democracy to chase an absolute majority in the second election, likely to take place on 25 june
Meanwhile, the results dealt a depressing blow to Greece’s left flank, which has vowed to recalibrate its strategy ahead of June’s final election.
Supporters of the conservative ruling New Democracy party wave flags as they attend a pre-election rally by party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens, Greece. (REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis)
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“The election result is extremely negative for SYRIZA… Our collective bodies will meet immediately to assess the results… We must immediately make all necessary changes to fight the next crucial and final electoral battle in the best possible terms,” said SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras. of the results, according to a Balkan Insight report.
Left-wing Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras is greeted by supporters in the Piraeus neighborhood near Athens, Greece. (REUTERS/Alexandros Avramidis)
“This idea that Greece is more of a center-left to left country has been blown out of the water,” Zemenides said.
He also argued that the first election showed the unique appeal of Mitsotakis, who he said is a unique figure in European politics and has even managed to attract support from young Greeks to his conservative style of government.
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“Mitsotakis has almost become a myth in our politics and in the politics of Europe,” Zemenides said. “It’s totally free enterprise and strong on national security, but it’s also big on climate change … it’s pro-abortion, pro-LGBTQ.”
Michael Lee is a writer for Fox News. Follow him on Twitter @UAMichaelLee
