Greece gets its new Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis with 39.85% votes
With 75% of the votes counted of the recently held General Elections in Greece, the centre-right opposition party – New Democracy, led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis has emerged victorious on Sunday i.e., July 7, 2019.
The New Democracy secured 39.85% of the vote and leftist Syriza party stood second with 31.53% of votes. The voter turnout during the polls was 57%, which was one of the lowest figures in decades.
The results signal a return of a party that has been a pillar of Greece’s pre-bailout establishment. The snap election was called on in May 2019 after suffering a major blow in European Parliament elections.
Speaking on the occasion, Kyriakos said, “I know the difficulties lying ahead. I don’t request a grace period because we don’t have time for it. Transparency and meritocracy will return to Greece and our country’s voice will be heard in Europe.”
The outgoing Prime Minister of Greece – Alexis Tsipras and his radical leftist Syriza alliance, accepted their defeat and congratulated Kyriakos
Congratulating Kyriakos, the outgoing Prime Minister Tsipras said, “Today, with our head held high we accept the people’s verdict. To bring Greece to where it is today, we had to take difficult decisions [with] a heavy political cost.”
Kyriakos is a Harvard and Stanford alumni and has worked in the banking sector before entering politics. He served as Minister of Administrative Reform 2013 and 2015. During his campaign, Kyriakos promised to ensure that Greece is no longer considered as Europe’s problem child, in the wake of an 8 years depression that saw its economy slashing by 25%. This is the worst slowdown which has impacted Greece, since the World War II, which was fought from 1939 to 1945.
Kyriakos’s priority after coming to power will be to revive the economy by slashing taxes and regulations. Kyriakos will work to attract foreign investment in Greece. Post this, he will eye the country’s lender for negotiating a new deal.
Talking about negotiations, he said, “I believe I can negotiate with the Europeans more fiscal space and the markets are showing that they are quite excited about us coming into power.”
However, it is to be noted that Mitsotakis hails from the same political establishment that forced Greece into the crisis in the first place. In 2015, the voters opted for Tsipras as he made huge promises of development. The latest results of 2019 show that people were not happy with Tsipras as he failed to deliver the promises made by his party. His Government was accused of nepotism, corruption scandals, and accusations of interference in the justice system.
