Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of Greece’s center-right New Democracy party, has won a second four-year term as prime minister.
Mitsotakis is now set to return to the prime minister’s office in a stronger position with his party’s resounding victory in Sunday’s elections, which were dominated by financial stability and cost-of-living issues.
“We have high targets that will transform Greece,” a triumphant Mitsotakis said in his victory speech, promising that “major reforms” would soon be under way.
“I will not tolerate any arrogance,” he added.
With nearly 100% of the vote counted, New Democracy had garnered over 40% of the vote. Its main opposition, leftist party Syriza trailed far behind in the preliminary results with over 17%.
A total of eight parties, including centrist PASOK-KINAL and leftist KKE, have crossed the 3% threshold to enter the Greek parliament. Smaller fringe parties ranging from the far-left to the far-right have also made the cut.
“Mitsotakis has been rewarded by voters as the leader who has led Greece out of a severe debt crisis and three international bailouts back into a growth path. Someone who has kept, at least some, of his pledges which is more than many in Greece had previously done,” said Nick Malkoutzis, senior political analyst at Macropolis.
It was the second general election in Greece in five weeks, after New Democracy scored a victory in May surpassing all expectations but fell short of winning an outright majority.
Mitsotakis, at the helm during the Covid-19 pandemic and Europe’s energy crisis, had positioned himself as a safe pair of hands to boost growth in difficult global circumstances. His government staged a stunning turnaround in the economy, now on the brink of returning to investment grade on the global market for the first time since it lost market access in 2010.
New Democracy’s bid for reelection focused on measures to consolidate Greece’s economic recovery, promising a 3% annual growth, tax cuts and curbing unemployment.
