On Monday, a day after national elections, Greece was bracing for a second ballot in which vote-winner Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ party is poised to seek sole power.
Mitsotakis’ conservative New Democracy party won a landslide victory in Sunday’s election, with a comfortable 20-point advantage over its nearest challenger, Syriza, led by socialist Alexis Tsipras.
Conservatives received their highest performance in 14 years, with voters crediting the party with restoring economic stability to a country that was previously seen as an EU laggard.
Mitsotakis himself stated that the “great victory exceeded our own expectations.”
However, it fell short of an outright majority, leaving Mitsotakis with the choice of forming a coalition or calling a new election.
On Sunday, the 55-year-old Harvard graduate stated his preference.
“Together we will fight as of tomorrow, so that in the next elections, what citizens have already decided — a self-reliant New Democracy — will be mathematically confirmed at the ballot.”
“We will move forward, boldly and steadily, to complete today’s important first step, and be the final winners,” he said, adding that Greeks “want a strong government”.
Tsipras also set the stage for a new vote, saying “the electoral cycle is not over yet”.
The next battle, he said, will be “critical and final”.
