parliamentary election
“A big mandate”: Greek conservatives win election
Kyriakos Mitsotakis is the leader of the conservative Nea Dimokratia party. photo
© Petros Giannakouris/AP
The Conservatives in Greece are entering a second term. The largest opposition party, on the other hand, faces problems after a defeat. A far-right party achieves a surprise success.
The conservative Nea Dimokratia (ND) party led by former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will continue to govern Greece for the next four years. She won the parliamentary elections with 40.6 percent of the vote – almost the same result as the previous vote in May. The largest opposition party, the left-wing Syriza under Alexis Tsipras, came to 17.8 percent. Tsipras announced on the evening of the election that he wanted to face the party base – for him it was the fifth election defeat in a row since 2019.
Because the strongest party in this election receives at least 20 additional seats in the 300-member parliament, according to the electoral law, the conservatives can form the future government with a majority of around 160 seats. The election is the second ballot within five weeks: after the Conservatives had been in office for four years since 2019, there were already parliamentary elections in Greece in May. However, no coalition and thus no government came about, which is why a new election had to be held.
“Today we celebrate, but tomorrow we will roll up our sleeves,” Mitsotakis promised party supporters in Athens. With this election result, his Nea Dimokratia is the strongest people’s party in Europe. “It’s a big mandate to implement what is needed,” he said. Mitsotakis named three of his most important concerns: He wanted more growth, which would lead to higher wages. In addition, as announced during the election campaign, he will turn the ailing health system upside down. And he will continue to work on modernizing and digitizing the state.
Left party Syriza is coming to terms
Less beautiful tasks await Tsipras. After the sobering result of 17.8 percent (in May: 20 percent), the left-wing Syriza party is likely to come to terms with the process and probably a realignment. “We suffered a serious electoral defeat,” admitted Tsipras. Now the party members are asked to evaluate the work of the top management. “It goes without saying that I am the first to face the judgment of the members,” said Tsipras. Whether that means he’s ready to resign remains to be seen.
Some were already calling for his departure after the heavy electoral defeat in May, when Syriza lost more than 11 percentage points compared to the 2019 election. However, Syriza has not yet developed a possible successor besides Tsipras.
The nationalist party Spartiates (Spartans) recorded a surprise success in the elections – out of nowhere, the right-wing extremists made it into parliament with 4.7 percent. They are considered the political arm of the de facto dissolved Chrysi Avgi (Golden Dawn) party. Its leadership has been in Greek prisons for years – among other things, the leading cadres were convicted of forming a criminal organization.
The social-democratic Pasok also made it into parliament with 11.9 percent (May: 11.5 percent), the Greek Communist Party KKE with 7.7 percent (May: 7.2 percent), and the right-wing populist party Elliniki Lisi with 4.5 percent percent (May: also 4.5 percent) and the ultra-Orthodox party Niki with 3.7 percent (May: 2.9 percent).