Kyriakos Mitsotakis Re-elected with Strong Mandate, New Democracy Party to Govern Alone

Conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis was re-elected with a strong mandate, obtaining over 40% of the vote in Greece's national elections on Sunday. His New Democracy party won by the widest margin in almost five decades, and will now be able to govern alone. Mitsotakis thanked the electorate for their trust and vowed to administer major reforms quickly. He has ambitious plans to transform the nation, having previously steered the country from the coronavirus pandemic towards two consecutive years of sound economic growth. 

The election saw a sharp swing to the right, including the emergence of three hard-right parties in parliament. In response, Mitsotakis warned that such extreme voices could only cause "democratic cacophony". The result is a severe blow to former premier Alexis Tsipras and his leftist Syriza party, which gained less than 18% of the vote - a decrease of 300,000 votes on the last election. It is also a disappointment for Yanis Varoufakis's radical-left MeRA25 party, which failed to make the three percent threshold to enter parliament. The result is a reward for Mitsotakis' work in nursing Greece back to financial health following an arduous debt crisis.

Over the past four years, the 55-year-old former McKinsey consultant and Harvard graduate has eased tax burdens and dished out more than 57 billion euros to cushion the impact of the health crisis and inflation. He has also overseen the largest infrastructure upgrades since 1975. The vote marks a time of hope for Greek citizens, many of whom had suffered job losses, rising payments, and business bankruptcies during the debt years. Shop owner Aris Manopoulos said he "voted for New Democracy so that the country can advance, and continue to revive economically". As for Tsipras, the fifth electoral defeat could mean the end of his leadership of Syriza.

His former finance minister Euclid Tsakalotos said that the party must now reflect on its future. Overall, the election results appear to demonstrate a sense of optimism among the electorate of Greece for the future, with the New Democracy party receiving a strong mandate to continue its work in transforming the nation.