Greece's conservative New Democracy party wins landslide election victory for second 4-year term

Tags: International News

Greece's conservative New Democracy party has emerged victorious in the parliamentary election, securing another four-year term for reformist Kyriakos Mitsotakis as the Prime Minister.

An overview of the news

• According to interior ministry figures with most votes counted, New Democracy, a centre-right party, led with 40.5 percent of the vote, securing 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament.

• New Democracy's lead of more than 20 points over Syriza, a radical leftist party that governed Greece from 2015 to 2019 during a severe debt crisis, marked a significant victory for Mitsotakis.

• Mitsotakis, a former banker, has pledged to boost revenue from Greece's crucial tourist industry, generate employment opportunities, and raise wages to approach the European Union average.

• The election result dealt a humiliating blow to Syriza, which suffered the loss of over 30 Members of Parliament.

• This election was the second within five weeks, as the initial poll on May 21, conducted under a different electoral system, failed to grant any single party an outright majority in Parliament.

About Greece

• Greece is the southernmost of the countries of the Balkan Peninsula.

• Greece has more than 2,000 islands, of which about 170 are inhabited.

• President - Katerina N. Sakellaropoulou

• Prime Minister - Kyriakos Mitsotakis

• Capital - Athens

• Currency - euro