Greece’s conservative New Democracy party wins election by landslide

Greece's conservative New Democracy party won a landslide victory in the country's second election in five weeks on Sunday.

Official results from nearly 90% of voting centres nationwide showed Kyriakos Mitsotakis' party with just over 40% of the vote, with left-wing Syriza party suffering a crushing defeat with just under 18%.

Sunday's vote came just over a week after a migrant ship sank off the western coast of Greece, leaving hundreds of people dead and calling into question the actions of Greek authorities.

But the disaster, one of the worst in the Mediterranean in recent years, did not affect the election, with domestic economic issues at the forefront of voters' minds.

Mitsotakis’ party was projected to win around 157 or 158 of Parliament’s 300 seats, thanks to a change in the electoral law that grants the winning party bonus seats.

The previous election in May, conducted under a proportional representation system, left him five seats short of a majority despite winning 41% of the vote.

Eight parties are projected to surpass the 3% threshold to enter Parliament, including an ultra-religious party and far right party backed by a jailed former lawmaker from the Nazi-inspired and now outlawed Golden Dawn party.

The number of parties that make it into Parliament will affect how many seats the winner will hold.

Mitsotakis, 55, campaigned on a platform of securing economic growth and political stability as Greece gradually recovers from a brutal nearly decade-long financial crisis.

His main rival, 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019 – some of the most turbulent years of Greece’s nearly decade-long financial crisis.

His performance on Sunday leaves him fighting for his political survival.

After his poor showing in May elections, he had struggled to rally his voter base, a task complicated by splinter parties formed by some of his former associates.

Speaking after voting in a western Athens neighbourhood, Tsipras seemed to accept his party would be in opposition for the next four years even while the voting was still ongoing.

“This crucial election is not only determining who will govern the country, it is determining our lives for the next four years, it is determining the quality of our democracy,” Tsipras said.

“It is determining whether we will have an unchecked government or a strong opposition. This role can only be played by Syriza.”

Mitsotakis, a Harvard graduate, comes from one of Greece’s most prominent political families.

His late father, Constantine Mitsotakis, served as prime minister in the 1990s, his sister served as foreign minister and his nephew is the current mayor of Athens.

The younger Mitsotakis has vowed to rebrand Greece as a pro-business and fiscally responsible euro zone member.

The strategy, so far, has worked.

New Democracy routed left-wing opponents in May, crucially winning Socialist strongholds on the island of Crete and lower-income areas surrounding Athens, some for the first time.

“We are voting so people can have a stable government for the next four years,” Mitsotakis said after voting in northern Athens on Sunday.

“I am sure that Greeks will vote with maturity for their personal prosperity and the country’s stability.”

Despite scandals that hit the Mitsotakis government late in its term, including revelations of wiretapping targeting senior politicians and journalists, and a deadly February 28 train crash that exposed poor safety measures in public transport, voters appear happy to return to power a prime minister who delivered economic growth and lowered unemployment.

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