Yanis Varoufakis

Greek Prime Minister and New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis greets supporters after announcing the first results of the Greek elections at the party's HQ in Athens, 21 May 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGE VITSARAS

The performance of two parties in particular that did not hold seats in the previous parliament was one of the major surprises of Sunday's general election, despite narrowly missing the 3 percent threshold to enter parliament.

The "Erdoganization and Orbanization of Greece is now complete," former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis said, in his first reaction to the election results that saw his MeRA25 party limp in 8th place and lose its presence in parliament.

Two opinion polls published just hours before an election silence kicks in put New Democracy ahead of main opposition SYRIZA by 6.5 and 5 percentage points, respectively.

A Pulse poll for SKAI gave New Democracy a 6.5-point lead over SYRIZA while an MRB poll for OPEN TV put conservatives 5 points ahead.

MeRA25 was not founded in 2018 in order to play a backseat role in a government led by Alexis Tsipras, the head of the radical left party, Yanis Varoufakis, indicated on Tuesday, ruling out the possibility of joining a coalition with SYRIZA.

Walter Heller, an economist who served in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, used to quip that "an economist is a man who, when he finds something works in practice, wonders if it works in theory." Yanis Varoufakis, Greece's former finance minister and now leader of the MeRA25 political party must be a great economist considering that he wants to replace the euro, a currency which actuall

Police have arrested a 30-year-old man in relation with the beating of Yanis Varoufakis almost two months ago.

The MeRA25 leader and former finance minister was assaulted at a taverna in the city center district of Exarchia on March 10.

He blamed "hired thugs" for the assault, in which he suffered a fractured nose.

It poses risks to the country that the leadership and top officials of main opposition SYRIZA leave open - even if indirectly - the possibility of cooperation with the leader of the MeRA25 party and former SYRIZA finance minister Yanis Varoufakis.

In the event that a "progressive convergence" was 10-15 seats short of a parliamentary majority after the coming elections, the Communist KKE and Yanis Varoufakis' MeRA25 would be faced with the decision to support such a government or pave the way for the New Democracy to return to power, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras has said.

The scenario of a "tolerance government" alluded to by SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras in his interview on Alpha TV came as a continuation of the whirlwind caused by the "Dimitra" currency program proposed by MeRA25 leader Yanis Varoufakis, who is considered a prospective partner.