He speaks of a "political earthquake". Outgoing Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis claimed victory for his conservative party in parliamentary elections on Sunday. This is "proof that New Democracy (his party) has the green light from the citizens to govern alone," he said, explaining that a second election was needed to try to achieve an absolute majority.
During his campaign Kyriakos Mitsotakis made no secret of the fact that the scenario of a second election was the one he favoured if the formation of a government was too complicated. For his part, in recent weeks, Alexis Tsipras has made calls to the leader of the socialist Pasok-Kinal party, Nikos Androulakis for an alliance, but he had made demands.
50 seats to be won in the second round
If it is impossible to form a government in the next two weeks, as many analysts predict – and what Kyriakos Mitsotakis wants, a new election will have to be called and should be held in late June or early July. The winner of this second election would then benefit from a bonus of up to 50 seats likely to give him a stable majority.
During his election campaign, the conservative leader who graduated from Harvard and the son of a former prime minister, did not stop brandishing his economic record. On Sunday after voting in Athens, he said he wanted to make Greece "a stronger country with an important role in Europe". With unemployment falling, growth of nearly 6% last year, return of investment and soaring tourism, the economy has recovered after years of crisis and strict austerity.
The decline in purchasing power and the difficulties in making ends meet remain the main concerns of the Greeks. And inflation last year approached 10%, further aggravating the difficulties of the population. The country is still burdened with a public debt of more than 170% of its GDP.