Greece’s Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis seeks a second election despite the significant victory of his center-right party, as he lacks the majority in Parliament to govern alone.
Election results: Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party won 40.79% of the votes, while the left-wing main opposition Syriza had 20.07%, and Socialist Pasok came in third at 11.46%.
* The victory margin was the largest since 1974, but the proportional representation system leaves New Democracy with 146 of Parliament’s 300 seats – five short of a governing majority.
Next steps: Mitsotakis is expected to return President Katerina Sakellaropoulou’s mandate to form a coalition government and seek new elections in late June or early July.
* This move would revert to the previous system that grants the first party a bonus of up to 50 seats, securing Mitsotakis a majority for a second term.
Background: Prime Minister Mitsotakis, a former banking executive, came to power in 2019 on a promise of business-oriented reforms and successfully handled the pandemic, two crises with Turkey, and oversaw high growth and job creation following Greece’s financial crisis.
* However, a wiretapping scandal and a railway disaster damaged his ratings.
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