Announcing Election Date, Greek PM Sums up Turbulent Tenure

Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Brussels, March 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/STEPHANIE LECOCQ

In his introductory statement to his cabinet, Mitsotakis reviewed his tenure, recalling all the issues his government had to deal with - the pandemic, issues with neighbour Turkey in the Aegean, the energy crisis, the the war in Ukraine, and a series of natural disasters.

He said that his government had managed to deal with these issues, and regarding any mistakes that were made, he said that "we are here to correct them".

"And I would say that our motto from now on is: we move forward together, changing Greece, more uncompromising and bolder," he added.

No mention was made of the wiretapping scandal in which journalists, lawyers, businesspeople and politicians have been targets of the National Intelligence Service.

He argued that "in an extremely unstable world, the country needs stable leadership, which is why citizens must know who they are voting for as prime minister".

The parliamentary election will be held under a new system of proportional representation; if no party wins an outright majority, a second election will probably follow, with bonus seats granted to the party that comes first.

Mitsotakis used the example of Bulgaria, where the elections that will be held on Sunday are the fifth nationwide polls in two years.

"Our Bulgarian friends are unable to form any government; they too are victims of simple proportionality and the impossibility of agreement between the parties," said Mitsotakis.

He argued that his party, New Democracy, represented "a strong Greece".

The latest opinion polls have shown New Democracy leading opposition party SYRIZA by 4.1 points, down from eight points a few months...