A "political earthquake"... It is in these terms that Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the outgoing Greek Prime Minister, describes the victory of the right obtained Sunday in the legislative elections in Greece. The big winner of the elections, which aimed to renew the 300 seats in the unicameral parliament, Mitsotakis' New Democracy party won 40.8% of the vote, according to final results.

Its main rival, the Syriza party of former head of government Alexis Tsipras, which embodied the hope of the radical left in Europe when it came to power in 2015, suffered a severe setback with 20% of the vote. It came out ahead of the socialist party Pasok-Kinal which won 11.5% of the vote.

The clearest victory for a party since 1974

The pro-government newspaper Proto Thema noted that the gap of 20 points between the two main parties was the largest since the return of democracy in Greece in 1974. At the helm of Greece since 2019, the 55-year-old liberal conservative leader gave a boost to an economy still recovering when he came to power after the financial meltdown and bailouts. With unemployment falling, growth of nearly 6% last year, a return of investment and a surge in tourism, the Greek economy has indeed recovered after years of crisis and rescue plans.

The situation remains fragile. The decline in purchasing power and the difficulties in making ends meet remain the main concerns of Greeks who have to deal with low wages. Last year, inflation approached 10%, further exacerbating the difficulties. And the country is still saddled with a public debt of more than 170% of its GDP.

And then, Kyriakos Mitsotakis has his critics who accuse him of an authoritarian drift. His tenure has been marred by scandals, from illegal eavesdropping to migrant pushbacks and police violence. Added to this is the March 1 rail crash in central Greece, which killed 57 people and triggered a wave of anger in the country. Kyriakos Mitsotakis then found himself in turmoil, strangled for his management considered calamitous of this disaster.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants absolute majority

In this context, the outgoing Prime Minister himself acknowledged that "the great victory" of this Sunday had exceeded [his] own expectations. Kyriakos Mitsotakis does not want to stop there. Because despite the magnitude of his victory, the 55-year-old leader, at the helm of Greece since 2019, narrowly missed the absolute majority: his camp won 145 seats of deputies. He needed six more to form a government on his own.

But in a country where the political culture is not very focused on the search for compromise, he has ruled out forming a coalition government. In other words, Greece is heading this Monday for new parliamentary elections that could be held in late June or early July. The next election will be conducted under a different electoral system. The winning party will then get a "bonus" of up to 50 seats. Enough to guarantee him an absolute majority, according to his calculations.

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