Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the conservative Prime Minister of Greece, has won another term as Prime Minister. He described his party’s significant victory as a “political earthquake”. Kyriakos Party received nearly 41% of the vote for his center-right New Democracy Party, but they fall five seats short to claim majority.
With their abysmal performance with an outcome of 20% vote, the Syriza Party, and their Center-left leader Alexis Tsipras praised Mr Kyriakos for emerging winner in the elections. According to Mr. Mitsotakis, the outcome demonstrated that Greeks had given his party a mandate for a four-year term in office.
“The people wanted the choice of a Greece run by a majority government and by New Democracy without the help of others,” the Prime Minister said in a victory speech. Party supporters celebrated hours earlier as an exit poll revealed the surprising magnitude of New Democracy’s triumph in Athens.
As the results began to drop, it became evident that, the 20-point difference between the two major contesting parties, had been underrated by pre-election polls. Mr. Mitsotakis’ New Democracy Party garnered 146 seats, falling five shy of the 151 needed for majority rule.
The Prime Minister’s remarks has been interpreted as a sign that, he would not seek a power-sharing agreement with another party, but rather call for a second election in late June, at which the victor receives additional seats.
Prime Minister Kyriakos would turn down any option from Greece President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, to create a coalition. However, if the next two parties also reject the President’s offer, she would have to set up a caretaker administration until fresh elections.
Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Syriza Party, branded their defeat as an “extremely negative performance” and said it was a huge blow for his party. In 2015, he ran for president on a platform of resistance to the austerity of Greece Economic bailouts, but he eventually bowed to pressure from his creditors.
Greece’s growth last year was close to 6%, and the center-right, which has controlled the country for the previous four years, can take pride in this achievement. Mr. Kyriakos campaigned on the message that, only him could be trusted to manage the economy of Greece and sustain recent developments. His messages appeared to have resonated well to the people of Greece, gaining an emphatic victory.
Majority to Rule
A majority in Greece’s Parliament would have required 41% of the vote, four years ago. However, due to the winning party’s loss of the right to a 50-seat bonus in the first round, the requirement has been increased to more than 45%, hinting the likelihood of a rerun.
If he were to win the second election, Mr. Mitsotakis would be interested in the additional seats that would be his. He could rule for four years with a government of his choosing if he received an absolute majority.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis hails from a family of Greece’s most powerful political generation. Mitsotakis father, Konstantinos Mitsotakis, was Greece Prime Minister in the early 1990s. Dora Bakoyannis served as the Foreign Minister, and her son Kostas Bakoyannis currently serve as Mayor of Athens.
Greeks may vote at 17 years old. Preliminary analysis of the result revealed that 31.5% of voters aged 17 to 24 supported ND, about three points more than Syriza.
On the other hand, it was presumed that, the election campaign would be overshadowed by the February Rail accident, but the incident had no impact on the outcome of the elections. The accident claimed 57 live, many of whom, were students.
The tragedy was emphasized by opposition parties as a sign of a broken state reduced to its bare essentials by years of economic crisis and underinvestment.
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