Decades

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou is expected to present Kyriakos Mitsotakis with the formal mandate to form a government on Monday morning after his New Democracy party's resounding victory on Sunday night.

Mitsotakis is expected at the Presidential Palace in central Athens at 11 a.m. and will be sworn in as prime minister for his second term in office at 1 p.m.

Center-left PASOK has every reason to celebrate Sunday's result as it has increased its share of the vote by 50 percent over two election cycles.

The sense of elation was not least felt by its leader Nikos Androulakis, who has strengthened his hand.

The first exit poll by Kapa Research after Sunday's general elections, shows that Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his party have likely secured a safe outright majority to form a single-party government.

PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis called on Greeks to vote for his party on Sunday from the village of Arkalochori on Crete where he voted.

New Democracy, SYRIZA and PASOK closed the election race on Friday with different goals in view of Sunday's ballot.

For conservative ND, the main goal is to secure a comfortable outright majority in the region of 158 seats. It believes that the votes of young people and voters who live in areas other than their constituencies are key to achieving this.

Fears that the British economy is heading for recession mounted sharply after the Bank of England raised borrowing costs by more than anticipated.

The Bank of England on June 22 decided to lift its main interest rate by half a percentage point to a fresh 15-year high of 5 percent.

Voters return to the polls Sunday for a second general election in five weeks, with the conservative New Democracy front-runners eyeing a landslide win after toppling strongholds dominated by their opponents for decades.

Leader of New Democracy party Kyriakos Mitsotakis greets people at a rally in Thessaloniki, Greece, 21 June 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE/ACHILLEAS CHIRAS

Almost a month ago, Mitsotakis emerged as the big winner of May 21 elections, taking 40.83 per cent of the vote and leaving his main rival, Alexis Tsipras, and the left-wing party SYRIZA far behind on 20.07 per cent.

The most likely outcome of Sunday's election is a victory by New Democracy with a percentage that will allow it to form a government by itself.

Migration Reform

European Commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson speaks to the media prior to the European Home Affairs Ministers Council meeting in Luxembourg, 08 June 2023. EPA-EFE/JULIEN WARNAND