Greece: Conservatives Win General Elections, Short of Majority

On Sunday, after the victory of his New Democracy (ND) party in the general elections, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis proclaimed that Greek conservatives have received a clear mandate from the people to persist in their endeavors of effecting change in the country through a strong government.

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According to the official results released by the Interior Ministry, the ND party secured a total of 145 seats in the next 300-member parliament by garnering 40.79 percent of the votes, ascertained by the counting of 96.03 percent of the total votes.

The SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance, as the primary opposition party, gained 20.05 of the votes, which secured them 72 seats. Additionally, three other parties were able to surpass the required threshold of three percent, thus allowing their representation in the newly elected parliament.

"The results of the ballot are clear. They show that New Democracy has the approval of citizens to rule autonomous and strong," Mitsotakis told media at the party's headquarters, shortly after receiving a congratulatory call from SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance's leader Alexis Tsipras.

According to the results, the Panhellenic Socialist Movement-Movement for Change, PASOK-KINAL, emerged as the third-largest political party in the elections, securing 11.52 percent of the total votes and securing 41 seats in parliament.

The two additional parties that earned representation in parliament are the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and the right-wing Elliniki Lysi (Greek Solution).

The KKE obtained 7.21 percent of the votes and secured 26 seats, whereas the Greek Solution garnered 4.45 percent of the votes, yielding 16 seats. The turnout of voters was recorded at 60.26 percent.

Without attaining an outright majority, the ND party will be required to pursue a coalition in order to establish a government, an option that was previously declined by the party leadership in the pre-election campaign.

The final results are expected to be announced on Monday. After that, the Greek President, Katerina Sakellaropoulou, will give a mandate to the leader of the largest party to establish a new government. According to the Greek constitution, the top three political party leaders are granted a period of three days each to form a coalition.

If all efforts prove ineffective, a provisional government will guide Greece towards a second ballot by early July. According to local media reports on Sunday, the runoff election may be conducted on June 25.