Eight days after a vote in which the right clearly won, a presidential decree released on Monday confirmed what all Greeks had been expecting.

They must vote again on June 25 to elect the 300 deputies to their unicameral parliament, as the assembly resulting from the May 21 vote did not allow the conservative Nea Dimokratia party to secure an absolute majority.

This date was proposed by former Conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis after his party’s victory on May 21.

The New Democracy party got 40.8% of the vote, more than 20 points more than its main opponent, the left-wing Syriza party of former Prime Minister (2015-2019) Alexis Tsipras, which suffered a crushing setback.

However, this outcome does not allow him to form a stable government as he has ruled out a coalition with a minority partner.

The 55-year-old Kyriakos Mitsotakis described this victory triumphantly on the evening of the results political earthquake and paved the way for new parliamentary elections.

Different voting method

They take place with a different voting system, this time granting victory to the winning party bonus up to 50 seats.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who came to power in 2019 and is seeking a second term, is banking on this second ballot to win an outright majority.

The May 21 parliamentary elections were held under the simple system of proportional representation and the right-wing won 146 seats, while it needed 151 to form a stable government on its own.

Mr Mitsotakis, heir to a large political family – his father was prime minister before him – reiterated his ambitions for these second elections.

We want a strong mandate for a stable government to implement our program, which is not possible with a limited majorityhe said on Monday morning in an interview with the private broadcaster Mega.

While waiting for the next elections, an interim government has been appointed, with Prime Minister Ioannis Sarmas, a senior judge in charge of current affairs, taking over.

painful shock for Alexis Tsipras

Weakened, Alexis Tsipras admitted that the May 21 vote failed a painful shock for Syriza, but he promised to fight for the next elections.

I have no reason to hide that the election result is a shock to us […] unexpected and painfulhe admitted two days after the defeat before adding that Injuries at Syriza are a fact.

However, some analysts believe a change could soon take place at the helm of Syriza, a far-left party he has led for 15 years and which he has re-leaned heavily to the left in recent years.

Compared to previous elections, Syriza lost 11.5 points in 2019.

Left-leaning voters in Greece have never really forgiven his radical U-turn in 2015 on Alexis Tsipras, then Prime Minister of a country mired in financial crisis and engaged in heated negotiations with its supporters, including the European Union. European.

He had crossed swords with the Europeans for nearly six months before capitulating and embarking on radical austerity measures whose devastating effects are still being felt by many Greeks.

The decline in purchasing power, inflation and low wages are the main concerns of the Greeks, who with Syriza’s low score showed they are desperate to put the bailout plans and financial crises behind them, analysts said the day after the election.

Conversely, they reacted sensitively to the economic record of the New Democracy.

Falling unemployment, growth of almost 6% in the last year, return on investment and booming tourism: the Greek economy has regained momentum after years of crisis and rescue packages.