Eleni StamatoukouAthensBIRNJune 25, 202321:22Early election results showed Kyriakos Mitsotakis has won Sunday’s election hands down, with three newly formed far-right parties also winning seats in parliament.
Greek Prime Minister and leader of New Democracy political party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis (C) poses for pictures with supporters of his party, in Athens, 25 June 2023. Photo by EPA-EFE/YANNIS KOLESIDIS
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, leader of the conservative New Democracy party, is set to win a second term as prime minister and a majority in parliament, the preliminary results of Sunday’s elections show.
In the second round of the parliamentary election, held after no political party assumed the task of forming a government after the first round, on May 21, Mitsotakis looks likely to secure a second four-year mandate.
“Citizens sent not only a message of continuity on the path we set out four years ago but a strong mandate. I thank them and am grateful to the Greek men and women for their trust,” Mitsotakis said.
“I never promise miracles, but I assure you that I will remain faithful to my national duty,” he added.
After 96.49 per cent of the total votes were counted, Mitsotakis’s New Democracy won 40,55 per cent of the votes, almost twice as much as the main opposition SYRIZA party, lead by Alexis Tsipras’s, which won 17.84 per cent. SYRIZA looks set to have performed worse than in the last elections, compared to the 20 per cent it secured in May.
“The election result is obviously negative for us. But I believe the election result is mainly negative for society and democracy. The nomination of three far-right parties in the parliament…combined with the majority of Mitsotakis’ right, is a negative development,” said Tsipras adding that he puts himself in the judgment of SYRIZA.
The second round of elections was held under an enhanced proportional representation system, with the first party getting bonus seats in parliament. In the first round, held under a simple proportional system, neither leader accepted the President’s mandate to form a coalition government.
The entry into parliament of three far-right parties has sparked concern among analysis and the media.
Kyriakos Velopoulos’s Elliniki Lysi won 4.45 per cent of votes.
Two new far-right parties, Niki – which made its first appearance in the May elections – with close relations to the Orthodox Church, won 3.70 per cent of the votes.
The second new party, the Spartiates [Spartans], which is supported by Ilias Kasidiaris, the imprisoned former member of the far-right banned party Golden Dawn, won 4.69 per cent.
A few days before the elections, the Supreme Court banned Kasidiaris’s independent candidacy. Previously, they blocked his far-right National Party – Greeks from the first round of elections.
Vassilis Stigas, Spartans’s leader, thanked Kasidiaris because “he was the fuel that gave us the impetus to reach this point”.
When asked on TV if the Spartans are the continuation of Golden Dawn, a representative of the party answered: “Of course not.”
The Greek parliament in February passed a new law that excludes parties whose leaders have been convicted of serious crimes from elections.
BIRN’s analysis, “In Greece, Deep Uncertainty over Outcome of Election”, highlighted the problematic nature of the specific law, which was not passed by a non-revising parliament [revision of the Constitution], but by an ordinary parliamentary vote.
Kasidiaris, despite serving a 13-year prison sentence for his leading role in Golden Dawn, which was branded a criminal organization under a court ruling in 2020, has an active presence on social media through third parties.
The prison’s disciplinary board ruled in May that he didn’t violate any law: “The disciplinary offense of insubordination was not proved, as it did not appear that he violated the lawful orders of the staff during the conversations in question,” it said.
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