Conservative prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ party was on track to win a decisive victory in Sunday’s general election but failed to secure the majority needed to lead a one-party government, setting the stage for another vote. within weeks of Mr. Mitsotakis seemingly ruling out forming a governing coalition.
Mr. Mitsotakis described the preliminary results as a “political seismic” calling for an “experienced hand at the helm” of Greece, and said that Any negotiations with potential or contentious alliance partners will only lead to a dead end.
With 93.7% of votes were counted on Sunday night and his party, New Democracy, leading the opposition Syriza by 20 percentage points, Mitsotakis greeted a crowd of cheering supporters outside his party office in Athens.
“We have kept the country standing and we have laid the foundations for a better nation,” he said. “We will fight together in the next battle so that at the next election, what we have decided, an autonomous New Democracy, will be realized.”
Preliminary results showed the New Democrats won 40.8% of the vote on Sunday night, after urging Greeks to choose economic and political stability over “chaos” in a war. stressful election campaign. The centre-left Syriza party, led by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, with whom Greece narrowly exited the eurozone in 2015, came in second, with 20.7% of the vote. Socialist Party Pasok-Kinal took third place, accounting for 11.6%.
Mr Tsipras said in a statement that he had called to congratulate Mr. Mitsotakis’ victory and that his party would convene to discuss the outcome as a second election appeared to be secured.
On Monday, when the final outcome is clear, the leading party will receive the task of trying to form a government. But it seems unlikely the prime minister will consider that option, leading to a new election, possibly in June or early July.
Preliminary results show the New Democrats on track to win 145 seats in the 300-seat National Assembly, with 72 for Syriza. Syriza’s poor performance has fueled speculation in the Greek media about the future of the centre-left party.
“It reflects the complete collapse of Syriza’s strategy, its permanent shift to the right, its hegemonic position,” said Seraphim Seferiades, professor of politics and history at Panteion University in Athens. on the left has deepened confusion and dismay.”
He also recorded a high abstention rate, more than 40 percent: Voter turnout was 60 percent, preliminary results showed.
Three factors added to the ambiguity of Sunday’s election: one in 10 voters undecided; approximately 440,000 young people are eligible to vote for the first time; and 3 percent of voters supported a party founded by the jailed spokesman of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, which had been banned from running for office.
An outright winner was foreseen, as the election was conducted under a simple system of proportional representation, making it difficult for a single party to take power. Any second vote would be held under a different system, which would award more seats to the winning party, giving the New Democracy a better chance to form an independent government. .
In his campaign speech in Athens on Friday night, Mr. Mitsotakis pointed to the government’s success in growing (now twice the eurozone average), attracting investment and strengthens the country’s defenses during a challenging period with neighboring Turkey.
“This is not the time for experiments that go nowhere,” he said, adding that achieving an investment-grade rating, which would allow Greece to lower borrowing costs, requires an investment-grade rating. stable government.
Mr. Mitsotakis also impenitent Greece’s hardline stance on migration, which includes strengthening border controls and resulting in a 90% drop in arrivals since 2015. While his government has suffered Human rights groups criticized for repelling illegal migrants at sea and creating camps with prison-like conditions, many Greeks welcomed the reduced influx of immigrants. Migrants overwhelmed Greece’s resources at the height of Europe’s migration crisis.
“Greece has borders, and those borders must be protected,” Mitsotakis announced Friday to a cheering crowd waving Greek flags.
For his part, Mr. Tsipras has campaigned for change. He highlighted the current administration’s alleged abuses of power, including the wiretapping scandal, and drew attention to the rising cost of living, which polls show. is the main concern of most voters.
Ahead of Sunday’s vote, Mr Tsipras urged Greeks to “leave behind an arrogant government that doesn’t feel the needs of many.”
His message convinced 17-year-old Elisavet Dimou, who voted for the first time on Sunday at a school in central Athens. She said she was shaken by Syriza’s promises of “change” and “justice”.
“Syriza also makes mistakes, but they don’t follow half of the country,” she said, referring to reports that wiretapping scandal wiped out dozens of politicians, journalists and businessmen.
Another factor that made her choose Syriza was fatal train crash in central Greece in February killed 57 people, including many students. “They had their whole lives ahead of them, and they died because the people in power didn’t care enough about fixing the trains,” she said.
Public outrage about the accident briefly dropped New Democracy’s lead in opinion polls, but it rebounded as supporters seemed comforted by promises of stability and prosperity prosperity continues.
One supporter, Sakis Farantakis, 54-year-old hair salon owner, said: ‘They’re not perfect, but it’s the only safe option. We have continued; Why go against uncertainty?
Mr. Mitsotakis has argued that a one-party government would be preferable to a coalition agreement to ensure stability and reassure investors. Economic growth has taken hold in Greece following the decade-long financial crisis that ended in 2018.
He has very little choice of partners. The Pasok Socialist Party was once seen as the only realistic candidate for an alliance with the New Democracy. But Mr. Mitsotakis admitted last year that Greece’s state watchdog followed Pasokleader of Nikos Androulakisstrained relations between the men and cast a shadow over any prospects of cooperation.
A leftist-led government is another possibility. Syriza has courted Pasok for an alliance that will most likely require a third party, possibly Mera25. That party, led by Yanis Varoufakis, Mr Tsipras’ former finance minister, is unlikely to gain a foothold in Parliament with most of the votes counted.
Mr Androulakis has kept his intentions unclear, claiming that neither side is to be trusted and that neither Mr Mitsotakis nor Mr Tsipras should lead any coalition government. Mr Androulakis phoned Mr. Mitsotakis to congratulate him late on Sunday.
