Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said his conservative party had unleashed a “political earthquake” with a thumping win in Sunday’s election but hinted that he would seek another election in order to secure an absolute majority that would allow the party to govern alone.
With most votes counted, his New Democracy party was on 40.8 percent of the votes — a 20-point lead over the left-wing Syriza party of Alexis Tsipras, which had 20.1 percent.
Despite the clear lead, projections from Greece’s interior ministry showed New Democracy falling six seats short of an outright majority in parliament, leaving Mitsotakis with the choice of building a coalition or bringing about a new ballot for a decisive result.
The 55-year-old made clear his preference.
“The citizens want a strong government with a four-year horizon,” he said.
Tsipras also indicated a new vote was likely, saying “the electoral cycle is not over yet”.
The next battle, he said, will be “critical and final”.
From Monday, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will give the top three parties — New Democracy, Syriza and the socialist PASOK — three days each in turn to form a coalition government.
If they all fail, Sakellaropoulou will appoint a caretaker government to prepare new elections about a month later.
