Greek conservatives storm to victory in election
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
STORY: An ambitious plan to transform Greece.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis wasn’t short of targets in the immediate aftermath of his re-election as Greek Prime Minister on Sunday.
The conservative incumbent saw his centre-right New Democracy Party triumph in the polls, giving him a second four-year term in office.
“Today we will enjoy our victory, but from tomorrow morning we will once again roll up our sleeves and begin together to build a strong Greece, a nation with more prosperity and justice for everyone. Thank you again for the honour. Tomorrow dawns an even better day for all.”
The 55 year old Mitsotakis is a former banker and scion of a powerful political family.
He’s promised to boost revenue from the vital tourism industry, create jobs and increase wages to near the European Union average.
He’s also vowed to push ahead with reforms to rebuild the country's credit rating after the debt crisis which wracked the nation for a decade.
Speaking on Sunday to Reuters, voters had cited a range of issues they wanted the new government to tackle.
“I’m certainly waiting for the new government to do what hasn’t been done for the last four years – things that will benefit the youth, that will encourage them not to move abroad.”
“I’m expecting a lot, but the main priority is healthcare, as well as the economy, so we can live decently, as things have been difficult. I’m a pensioner, I was in the fire brigade, but now I don’t have a penny. We want our lives to be better, and for our children to find jobs and stay in Greece.”
Sunday's vote was the second in the past five weeks.
A first poll on May 21 held under a different electoral system failed to give a single party absolute majority in parliament.
The system used in Sunday's poll gave the leading party bonus seats depending on voter support.
New Democracy won more than 40 percent of the vote, giving it 158 of the 300 seats in Greece’s parliament.
The big loser of the night was Syriza.
The radical leftist party which run the country until 2019 lost more than 30 MPs.
Meanwhile, an anti-immigrant party calling themselves the Spartans looked set to win up to 13 seats.
