PM: Greece to Hold General Elections on May 21

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Photo source: @PrimeMinisterGR.

Greeks will be going to the polls on May 21 after the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, announced the news on Tuesday.

“The country and its citizens need clear prospects,” said Mitsotakis after a cabinet meeting, adding that only with a clean slate can his government continue implementing reforms.

During the cabinet meeting, the Greek PM presented the government’s success in pushing ahead with reforms. “Our work is ongoing and there have certainly been mistakes, we are here to correct them… our motto from now on is ‘we move forward together changing Greece resolutely and with bolder [actions]’,” he said.

The Greek prime minister said a newly introduced electoral system of proportional representation will make it difficult for any one party to win a clear majority from round 1.

Photo source: Ministry of Interior.

“The first ballot will decide who will be ruling and the second ballot will decide how they will be ruling,” said Mitsotakis, adding that a second run-off round of elections, if necessary, will be held by early July “at the latest”.

The elections will be held in the shadow of the train collision last month which left behind 57 people dead leading to fierce protests countrywide for government failings.

Referring to the “painful and traumatic” train crash, Mitsotakis admitted state deficiencies, adding that “overturning all these is a clear priority for the next day”.

Mitsotakis was elected to power in July 2019 after clinching a majority 39.8 percent of the public vote in national elections. He took over from Alexis Tsipras, representing opposition party Syriza, which came to power in 2015 by majority vote.