Election in Greece: Mitsotakis rejects coalition formation

Status: 05/22/2023 4:15 p.m

Prime Minister Mitsotakis clearly won the election, but it is not enough for a one-man government. Now there are new elections in which changed rules could help the conservative.

The election winner quickly provided clarity. Right at the beginning of his meeting with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Kyriakos Mitsotakis made it clear that, based on the current election results, he does not want to work as Prime Minister and will not accept a government-forming mandate. “I intend to return the exploratory mandate so that we can start new elections,” announced the previous head of government.

The winner of the election is the incumbent Prime Minister Mitsotakis – but new elections are still likely.
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Mitsotakis goes all-in with this and is betting that he can achieve an absolute majority in a new election, which he just missed last night. It is true that the previous head of government achieved a major election victory with his New Dimokratia, achieving 40.8 percent and improving on the already good result of four years ago. Nevertheless, in the end Mitsotakis was five seats short of being able to govern alone, without a coalition partner. The 55-year-old is now speculating that the strongest party will receive a bonus in parliamentary seats in a new election due to the changed rules.

Electoral law – made by Mitsotakis

“I believe that there is practically no possibility of forming a new government now. And I would like to point out that if the electoral system of the upcoming elections had already applied at this vote, New Democracy already has a large majority and over 170 seats had.” And thus around 20 seats more than required for an absolute majority.

What Mitsotakis doesn’t say: The electoral law that applies to new elections is made by Mitsotakis – it was passed during his reign. In this weekend’s election, however, it was not yet effective, as changes to the electoral law in Greece are only valid from the election after next.

It is likely that Mitsotakis will be able to govern alone after a quick new election with new rules, as he had hoped. The current result is too clear. His liberal-conservative Nea Dimokratia was able to increase its lead over the second largest party, the left-wing Syriza, from eight to over 20 percentage points. The social democratic Pasok follows Syriza at an even greater distance. However, the former ruling party made a small comeback and increased its share of the vote from 8.1 to 11.5 percent.

Despite the upswing, the money is not enough for many people in Greece.
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New election probably in five weeks

According to Greek commentators, a coalition with Pasok would have been an option – but Mitsotakis’ line is: re-elect quickly and then govern alone. “I believe that the country now needs a strong and stable government with a four-year perspective. And the sooner this hanging party ends, the better it is for the country,” Mitsotakis said.

Mitsotakis even mentioned a specific date for the new elections he wants in a conversation with the President: According to this, the Greeks are to be called to the polls again on June 25, i.e. in five weeks.

The political competition in Athens has already bowed to Mitsotakis’ new election dictates. Both Syriza, the big loser in this election with 20.1 percent, and Pasok have already prepared their supporters for the fact that there will be a second election shortly. In terms of numbers, the opposition parties also have no alternative: a left-wing coalition desired by Syriza is not remotely capable of winning a majority in the now elected parliament.

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