With nearly all of the votes counted, Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his New Democracy party won just over 40 percent, giving him the mandate to press ahead with promises to remake the Greek economy and rebrand the nation among the European Union.
A Harvard-educated former banker, Mitsotakis crushed his leftist rival, Alexis Tsipras, by 22 percentage points. In a victory speech, Mitsotakis vowed to get back to work fast.
“I am grateful for the resounding faith that has been expressed,” Mitsotakis said in his victory speech. “I cannot promise miracles, but I will remain true to my duty… to be committed, diligent, and humble."
Turnout was low with only half the country’s 9 million voters casting ballots. Experts suspect that may have contributed to smaller, fringe parties emerging from obscurity to take centerstage in Greece’s political process.
In all, eight parties cleared the 3 percent threshold to enter the nation’s legislature.
Among the new entries: the Spartans. Named after the formidable warriors of Sparta in ancient Greece, the new party advocates tighter migration policies, stoking fears that the country will be overrun by asylum-seekers escaping war and conflicts.
It is believed that the Spartans are an offshoot of the Golden Dawn party, whose neo-Nazi leaders have been imprisoned since 2020 for targeting left-wing politicians, activists, homosexuals and migrants.
Sunday’s vote comes after one of the worst migrant boat sinkings — that left at least 80 asylum-seekers dead and hundreds more missing — making illegal migration a heated topic of public debate.
As a result, the role of the Greek coast guard and whether the tragedy could have been avoided came into question.
Mitsotakis is to be sworn in Monday, and Greece’s new lawmakers will make their debut in Parliament days later.
