The Greek conservatives defeated the left-wing parties in a second round of elections on Sunday. With more than 90 percent of the vote counted, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s New Democracy party has more than 40 percent, against less than 18 percent for former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party. Because not all parties reached the election threshold of 3 percent, New Democracy won enough extra seats for an absolute majority in parliament.
According to 55-year-old Mitsotakis, the Greek people gave him a “firm mandate” on Sunday, which he wants to use to push through “much-needed reforms”. Speaking to a cheering crowd, Mitsotakis promised robust economic growth, wage increases and health care reform, among other things.
Last month New Democracy also received by far the most votes, but the 40 percent obtained was not enough for an absolute majority in parliament. Because the prime minister did not want to form a coalition with a smaller party, Mitsotakis pushed for new elections.
Strong shift to the right
The result of the second round of voting represents a significant shift to the right. For example, the far-left MeRA25 party of former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis failed to pass the election threshold. Three very right-wing parties, including the nationalist party Spartiates (Spartans), succeeded in doing just that. Together they received almost 13 percent of the vote.
The Greek elections were partly overshadowed by the major boat accident off the Greek coast that killed hundreds of migrants last week. Syriza’s leader Tsipras questioned the actions of the Greek coastguard, but that probably did the party no good. Analysts say many Greeks support the government’s strict migration policy, which the Coast Guard uses to guard its borders.
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