New democracy wins Greek elections, but no majority

Greece’s conservative New Democracy party won a landslide in Sunday’s national election but fell short of winning an outright majority in an election dominated by the cost of living crisis, a wiretapping scandal and the deadliest train accident in the country’s history. .

With more than 99% of the votes counted, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ centre-right party surpassed all expectations, taking more than 40.8% of the vote, a result he described as a “political earthquake”.

However, Mitsotakis did not win enough votes to secure a one-party government. Voting was conducted under a new system of proportional representation that requires a threshold of around 45%.

According to Reuters, which cites the Interior Ministry, in third place in the elections was the center-left PASOK party with 11.6% of the vote.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will now give the three main parties up to three days to form a coalition, although Mitsotakis has already indicated he is not interested in sharing power.

“The political earthquake that occurred today asks all of us to accelerate the process towards a definitive government solution so that our country can have an experienced hand at its helm as soon as possible,” Mitsotakis told his supporters gathered in front of the headquarters. of the party in Athens.

If Mitsotakis fails to form a coalition, an interim government will be sworn in and a run-off will take place, which is expected to take place in late June or early July. That second round will be held under different rules, requiring the winning party to get just 37% of the vote.