New Democratic party leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis secured a clear majority in the Greece parliamentary election and has won a second consecutive spell as the European nations leader. Mitsotakis, the poster boy of conservative politics in Greece, defeated his rivals for the second time in as many months.Second win in two months four-year term now beginsThis is the second parliamentary election that has happened in Greece in the span of two months. The first parliamentary election took place in May and was won by Mitsotakis New Democracy Party, but they failed to secure a clear parliamentary majority. As a result, a new snap parliamentary election was called for June, which took place on Sunday.The results declared on Monday, have seen the ND party win 40.5% of the votes cast, securing at least 158 out of 300 parliamentary seats. Their rivals, the left-wing Syriza party led by former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, were left far behind.❗️GREEK ELECTION JUNE 2023 RESULT – 84,8% countedND: 40,5%SYRIZA-PS: 17,9%PASOK-KINAL: 12%KKE: 7,6%ElLy: 4,5%Niki: 3,7%PE: 3,2%MeRA25: 2,4%Spartiates: 4,7% pic.twitter.com/XaMF0ei3gy— Greece Elects (@GreeceElects) June 25, 2023This is a resounding victory for Mitsotakis, 55, who has been associated with the ND party since 2000 and is seen as the face of centre-right politics in Europe. Indeed, after his victory, Mitsotakis declared that “ND is today the most powerful centre-right party in Europe”.Greece voters put faith in Mitsotakis economic policies despite troublesMitsotakis immense popularity among the Greek population comes from his astute economic policies, which have been credited with rescuing the nation from the grasp of bankruptcy. Greece faced several economic depressions and foreign debt crises for more than a decade, which put it in the European Unions “enhanced surveillance framework” and needed three international bailouts.Mitsotakis focused on sweeping economic reforms, tax breaks for the people, increasing the minimum wage, and the creation of jobs. This has rescued the ailing economy and has resulted in an increase in the financial health of the country. During the COVID crisis, despite losing out on billions in tourism revenue, Greece had a growth rate of 8.3% in 2021 and 5.9% in 2022.The Greek people have chosen! Congratulations @kmitsotakis, with this outstanding victory. Your win is very good news for Greece and for Europe🇬🇷🇪🇺! It is a firm endorsement of your program for economic reforms and job creation. @neademokratia @EPP pic.twitter.com/Xj7eoSTuDY— Manfred Weber (@ManfredWeber) June 25, 2023The support for his policies was evident in the latest poll results, despite the country facing issues such as a wire-tapping scandal involving Mitsotakis. The country also faced a railway accident in February, where 57 people lost their lives. More recently, a boat carrying migrants wrecked on the coast of western Greece on Sunday, and 80 people have died and 500 more are still missing, in one of the worst maritime tragedies in Europe.However, despite these challenges, Mitsotakis was optimistic about the countrys future under his second four-year leadership. “I never promise miracles,” he said after the voting closed on Sunday, “but I can assure you that I will remain faithful to my duty, with planning, devotion and chiefly hard work.”
