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A Mandate for Reform as Conservative Win Election in Greece
Kyriakos Mitsotakis the conservative leader in Greece has defeated his progressive left wing opponent in the country’s second election in a month, claiming a “strong mandate” to accelerate change.
With the majority of ballots counted, his New Democracy (ND) party received 40.5% of the vote, about 23 points ahead of Syriza.
He defeated Syriza in May but demanded further elections to gain a majority.
“The National Democratic Movement is now the most powerful center-right party in Europe,” he told ecstatic supporters in Athens.
After a severe debt crisis and three foreign bailouts, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis is credited with effectively returning the Greek economy to stability and prosperity.
Even though many Greeks were struggling with the cost of living, voters supported the party that promised fewer taxes and better public health.
The vote came 11 days after a migrant boat catastrophe off the coast of Greece in which 500 people are believed to have died.
Three days of mourning were observed, but the disaster had minimal impact on the election, with Greeks voting to maintain economic stability.
“The people have given us a safe majority,” Mitsotakis declared as the magnitude of his triumph became obvious. “Major reforms will be implemented quickly.”
His party fell just short of a majority in the 300-seat parliament last month, and his decision to call an election to build a stable, single-party administration was vindicated by the outcome on Sunday.
The largest party receives a bonus of between 20 and 50 seats under Greek rules for a second election. New Democracy won all 50 seats with over 40% of the vote.
Mr. Mitsotakis stated that while he could not promise miracles, New Democracy had “high goals” to reform Greece through improving public health care and education.
Former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza party was heavily beaten in the first election and lost ground even more in the second, receiving less than 18% of the vote. He played down speculation that he would quit, saying that decision was up to his party members.
The success of a newly formed far-right Spartans party, which received about 4.7% of the vote and crossed the 3% threshold to enter parliament, was one of the election’s great headlines.
This month, the Spartans became a political force because the Supreme Court banned another far-right group, the Greeks, whose jailed founder, Ilias Kasidiaris, backed the Spartans.
Kasidiaris was the spokesman for the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn, declared a criminal organization and its leaders sentenced to lengthy prison terms.
The three hard-right parties, the nationalist Greek Solution and the ultra-conservative Niki (Victory) gained over 13% of the vote and 34 seats.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ triumph against Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza is unusual in Greek politics, as few parties increase their share after a first term in office.
He also attracted more youthful voters than his opponent.
Alexis Tsipras stated that his future as Prime Minister was in the hands of party members.
His party benefited from the left-wing vote’s division, with the Socialist PASOK polling at more than 11% and the Communist KKE at roughly 7%.
Turnout fell by eight percentage points from the first vote to less than 53%.
The conservative leader has earned a reputation as a Teflon-coated leader after surviving a string of catastrophic crises in the last year, including a rail tragedy and a wire-tapping scandal that took down the intelligence chief and his nephew, who served as the prime minister’s chief of staff.
When the migrant boat sank off Greece’s southwest coast in the early hours of June 14, it was run by a caretaker administration.
According to Panos Koliastasis, assistant professor of politics at the University of Peloponnese, most Greek voters’ attitudes have evolved in support of tougher, more conservative policies since the migrant crisis.
“The reason is rooted in the Evros [river] migration crisis in 2020, when Turkey attempted to push thousands of migrants into Greek territory and the Mitsotakis government acted quickly.” As a result, most of the population views migration as an external danger to national sovereignty.”
Source: BBC
