Greek conservatives win big but fall short of parliamentary majority


The center-right New Democracy party of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis notched a landslide victory in Sunday's parliamentary elections but fell five or six seats short of an outright majority in Greece's 300-seat parliament. New Democracy won a larger-than-expected 41 percent of the vote, according to near-complete returns, while the main opposition center-left Syriza party underperformed with about 20 percent.
Mitsotakis called Sunday's election a "political earthquake" and suggested he will seek an outright governing majority in a second election in late June or early July, under more favorable electoral rules for his party. Syriza's Alexis Tsipras, whom Mitsotakis defeated in 2019, called the results "exceptionally negative for Syriza," adding. "Fights have winners and losers."
Mitsotakis' electoral success was attributed to Greek economic growth after years of austerity and contraction following a 2010 debt crisis. Voters appeared to have overlooked high inflation, a deadly passenger train crash, and a surveillance scandal involving the government spying on opposition politicians, journalists, business executives, and military figures.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mitsotakis also "comes from one of Greece's most powerful political dynasties," BBC News reports. "His father Konstantinos Mitsotakis was himself prime minister in the early 1990s; his sister Dora Bakoyannis was foreign minister and her son Kostas Bakoyannis is the current mayor of Athens."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
Trump pardons Virginia sheriff convicted of bribery
speed read Former sheriff Scott Jenkins was sentenced to 10 years in prison on federal bribery and fraud charges
-
Germany lifts Kyiv missile limits as Trump, Putin spar
speed read Russia's biggest drone and missile attacks of the war prompted Trump to post that Putin 'has gone absolutely CRAZY!'
-
Tied Supreme Court blocks church charter school
speed read The court upheld the Oklahoma Supreme Court's decision to bar overtly religious public charter schools
-
GOP megabill would limit judicial oversight of Trump
speed read The domestic policy bill Republicans pushed through the House would protect the Trump administration from the consequences of violating court orders
-
Judge scolds DOJ over Newark mayor arrest
speed read Ras Baraka was arrested during a May 9 surprise visit to a migrant detention facility
-
Trump lectures South Africa president on 'white genocide'
speed read Trump has cut off aid to South Africa over his demonstrably false genocide claims
-
Trump twists House GOP arms on megabill
speed read The bill will provide a $350 billion boost to military and anti-immigration spending and 'cuts to Medicaid, food stamps and green energy programs'
-
Trump DOJ said to pay $5M to family of Jan. 6 rioter
speed read The US will pay a hefty sum to the family of Capitol rioter Ashli Babbitt, who was fatally shot on January 6