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ATHENS – Greece’s Conservatives won a major victory in Sunday’s general election, securing an outright majority. Far-right parties also posted gains, while the left struggled, giving the Greek parliament its strongest right-wing bias since democracy was restored in 1974.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party managed to extend its double-digit lead over its main rival, the left-wing Syriza party, to secure 158 seats in the country’s 300-seat parliament. The new voting system gives the winning party 50 seats bonus seats.
“Our goals are high and must be high in a second term that can transform Greece with dynamic growth rates that increase wages and reduce inequality,” Mitsotakis said in his first message from his party’s headquarters.
“People have given us a safe majority. The major reforms will therefore proceed swiftly, as this is the decision of the Greek people and I will fully respect it.”
Sunday’s elections were the second in the country in five weeks after New Democracy took first place on May 21 but failed to secure an outright majority.
According to official results on Sunday, New Democracy received 40.5 percent of the vote, while Syriza lagged behind with just 17.8 percent and 47 seats. The socialist PASOK got 11.9 percent and 32 seats, the communist KKE 7.6 percent and 20 seats. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the participation rate was 52.7 percent.
Right-wing extremists win
Four fringe parties – especially right-wing extremist parties – also managed to clear the three percent hurdle and enter parliament.
The last-minute contender, the Spartans party, which recently added a jailed MP from the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, Ilias Kasidiaris, to its list of supporters, saw approval surge to 4.7 percent in days and secured 13 seats in Parliament. The Conservative government had passed an amendment aimed at expelling him from Parliament.
The dominance of New Democracy is another sign that southern European countries are moving to the right after a decade-long financial crisis in the eurozone that has led to the rise of left-wing parties.
The ultra-nationalist, pro-Russian Greek solution got 4.5 percent and 12 seats, while the anti-abortion religious party Niki got 3.7 percent and 10 MPs. On the left, Course of Freedom, led by former Syriza member Zoi Konstantopoulou, garnered 3.1 percent and 8 seats.
The far right did well in recent elections in Finland and Spain, and is doing particularly well in Germany. Its wiser elements – like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni – are beginning to make their mark at the European level.
But the main story of Sunday’s election was the dominance of New Democracy, which is another sign of how southern European countries are tilting to the right after a decades-long financial crisis in the euro zone that has led to the rise of left-wing parties.
“This is a clear victory for Kyriakos Mitsotakis [New Democracy] and for the EPP,” said Thanasis Bakolas, the centre-right Secretary General of the European People’s Party.
“In politics it depends on what you stand for. That’s what we’re seeing in Greece, but also what we saw earlier this year in the national elections in Finland and regional elections in Spain. And that is exactly what we will see again in the upcoming parliamentary elections in Spain in July and Poland in October. The EPP parties dominate the centre, while the centre-left parties are barricaded on the fringes.”
The outcome of the election is seen as market-friendly and puts Greece on track to regain an investment grade rating by the end of the year, analysts say.
Mitsotakis has promised that his first two bills will include further reform of public administration and the economy. He has also promised reforms in the areas of the judiciary, health and education, and expressed his intention to set up a family ministry to counter Greece’s shrinking and aging population.
“The overwhelming victory will give ND a comfortable majority and put Mitsotakis in a good position to push through investor-friendly reforms,” said Wolfgango Piccoli, co-founder of risk analysis firm Teneo.
But the fringe parties will have a platform to spread their populist message and try to disrupt the government’s agenda by promoting politically toxic issues such as migration, relations with Turkey, abortion, the role of religion in education and Russia- Exploit sanctions, he added.
“It remains to be seen how Mitsotakis – often seen as more vulnerable to attacks from the far-right due to his pronounced liberal centre-right leanings – will manage to deal with the potential challenge from far-right opposition MPs.”
The main opposition party, Syriza, performed very poorly, raising the question of whether its status as the main opposition party could now be challenged by the Pasok party. It also means that conservatives could govern with no particular scrutiny.
“Although the threat of collapse has been averted and Syriza remains the official opposition, we suffered a severe electoral defeat,” said party leader Alexis Tsipras, citing next year’s European elections as the goal for the party’s re-establishment, according to his leadership judgment of party members.