Greece: New legislative elections to be held on June 25

Greece will be heading for another round of legislative election on June 25, announced the Greek presidency on Monday. The decision comes after Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party managed to trump the opponents in the polls held last week, but fell short of a majority. Instead of cobbling up a coalition, the PM opted for new elections in hopes of getting absolute majority.

"New elections will be held on June 25," read the presidential decree after the conservative party gained nearly 41 per cent of the vote share and won 146 seats of the 300-seat Hellenic Parliament, falling short of the majority by five seats.

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Mitsotakis intends to win full majority

After the result was declared, Mitsotakis made it clear that he was not going to forge any coalitions.

“I intend to return the exploratory mandate to you this afternoon so that we can hold elections, possibly even on June 25,” said Mitsotakis. “There are no conditions for the formation of a government.”

"The people wanted the choice of a Greece run by a majority government and by New Democracy without the help of others," Mitsotakis had said in his victory speech.

During the canvassing trail, Mitsotakis promised to build on his earlier work, having taken the country out of financial duress. Taking a leaf out of US President Joe Biden's book, Mitsotakis used the "Let’s finish what we started" slogan to attract the voters.

Mitsotakis, 55, a Harvard-educated former banker was facing a stiff competitor in 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, who heads the left-wing Syriza party and served as prime minister during some of the financial crisis’ most turbulent years. However, after the poll outcome, Tsipras described his party's performance as "extremely negative".

Electoral rule changes in Greece

Notably, four years ago, winning over 41 per cent of the vote would have easily allowed the party to form a government. However, changes in electoral rules mean that more than 45 per cent vote share is required as the winning party is no longer entitled to a 50-seat bonus in the first round.

In the next ballot, scheduled to take place on June 25, the winner will obtain the bonus seats, facilitating the goal of securing a majority of at least 151 lawmakers.

Notably, the May election was the first since the country was freed from the supervision of international lenders who had provided bailout funds over the last few years.

(With inputs from agencies)

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