- According to preliminary results, the conservative party Nea Demokratia (ND) of former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis clearly won the parliamentary elections in Greece.
- Based on about 97 percent of the votes counted, it achieved 40.6 percent – roughly the same result as in the previous election in May.
- The largest opposition party, the left-wing party led by Alexis Tsipras, has 17.8 percent. In May, she received 20% of the vote.
Since the strongest party in this election gets at least 20 more seats in the 300-member parliament, according to election law, the Conservatives could form the future government with a majority of about 160 seats.
Second check in five weeks
The election is the second ballot for Greeks in five weeks: after the conservatives’ four-year term from 2019 to 2023, parliamentary elections were held in Greece in May. However, no coalition was formed, and therefore no government, which is why new elections must be held.
legend:
The party of Kyriakos Mitsotakis (center) must emerge victorious in the elections.
Keystone / George Phitsaras
Despite the electoral success, Mitsotakis cannot rest on the laurels achieved thus far. Domestically, he has to modernize Greece’s ailing health system – which he promised to do during the election campaign. The country will also be simplified and digitized.
In addition, Mitsotakis must prove that he is not only friendly to business, but that the country’s progress is also beneficial to people. After the severe financial crisis in the country, Greeks are still among the poorest citizens in Europe. Finally, it is important to come to terms with the re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan regarding foreign policy. He had repeatedly threatened the Greeks militarily in recent years.
Hard times await the left-wing Syriza
Alexis Tsipras and the left-wing Syriza party are facing difficult times. After five electoral defeats, the question of the party’s future leadership is likely to come to the fore. There have already been calls for his resignation after Syriza’s dramatic collapse in the May elections. However, Syriza is very much tailored to Tsipras. Although there were well-known and popular politicians in their ranks, none formally prepared them for a leadership role.
In addition to ND and Syriza, the Pasok Social Democratic Party with 11.9% (May: 11.5%), the Communist Party of Greece KKE with 7.7% and the right-wing radical nationalist party Spartiates with 4.7% will also be in parliament. The right-wing populist party Iliniki Lisi also reached parliament with 4.5 percent. In addition, the ultra-Orthodox Nikkei party is expected to account for 3.7 percent of parliament.
Small radical left party Plefsi Eleftherias has to worry about entering Parliament with 3.2% (May: 2.9%). The Mira 25 party, led by left-wing former Finance Minister Giannis Varoufakis, came in late at 2.46 percent.
You can see the latest results on the Hellenic Ministry of Interior website here.
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