Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, whose conservative party has a 20-point lead ahead of his nearest rival with 82% of the vote counted, doesn’t have enough parliamentary seats to form a government. He indicated he will seek a second election hoping to consolidate his victory without the need of a coalition partner.
May 21, 2023
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his conservative party unleashed a “political earthquake” with a thumping win on Sunday, May 21, as he hinted that he would seek a new ballot to obtain an absolute majority enabling it to govern alone.
With just over 82% of the ballot counted, his New Democracy party was credited with 40.8 percent of the votes – a 20-point lead ahead of his nearest rival, leftist challenger Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza party, which garnered 20.1 percent.
Despite the clear win, the conservatives were short of a few seats for an outright majority, meaning that Mitsotakis had the choice of seeking a coalition or a new ballot for a decisive result.
The 55-year-old made clear his preference. “The citizens want a strong government with a four-year horizon,” he said. “Today’s political earthquake calls on all of us to speed up the process for a definitive government solution,” he added.
His rival Tsipras also set the stage for a new vote, saying “the electoral cycle is not over yet. The next battle, he said, will be “critical and final”.
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