New Democracy

New Democracy's strategy of capitalizing on sensitive political issues that appeal to far-right audiences during Greece's general election, where the conservatives achieved a landslide victory over their leftist rivals, also fueled the rise of fringe parties, according to political analysts.

Re-elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has pledged his conservative government would "fix the sins of the past" and over the next four years cut taxes, boost wages and pensions, and repay bailout debts earlier than expected.

Mitsotakis, 55, won 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament in a June 25 national election, securing a clear majority to push ahead with his plan.

Greece's re-elected Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to outline on Thursday his conservative government's agenda over the next four years, which includes tax cuts and wage and pension increases.

Greek Premier Kyriakos Mitsotakis said he plans to legalize same-sex marriage during his second term in government.

"Same-sex marriage will happen at some point and it's part of our strategy," Mitsotakis was quoted as telling Bloomberg Television in an interview last Tuesday in Athens. "Greek society is much more ready and mature."

WWF Greece has brought attention to the critical environmental challenges that Greece's new conservative government must confront. They addressed letters to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and the new Environment Minister Theodoros Skylakakis, emphasizing the urgency of preserving natural ecosystems and climate stability over the next four years. 

Following the earlier re-election of Konstantinos Tasoulas as parliamentary speaker, MPs have selected seven deputy speakers from five of the eight parties represented in the chamber.

The nominees from the extreme-right parties Niki and Spartans, as well as from anti-establishment Course of Freedom, failed to garner enough votes to be elected deputy speakers.

Konstantinos Tasoulas was re-elected as President of the Parliament with 249 votes on Tuesday.

Tasoulas received the votes of New Democracy, SYRIZA, PASOK-KINAL and Greek Solution lawmakers. The 59 MPs from the other opposition parties abstained.

What has been extensively discussed since the election? The resounding victory of New Democracy, which was also a personal triumph for conservative leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis; the defeat of SYRIZA; the relatively modest performance of PASOK (which received only a fraction of the votes that SYRIZA lost); the resurgence of Zoe Konstantopoulou through her party, Course of Freedom.

HALC's Erini Kosmas interviews Harris Mylonas about SYRIZA's defeat in the last election, the resignation of Alexis Tsipras from SYRIZA's leadership, and the future of the left in Greece in the wake of New Democracy's massive victory 

With backing from a politician jailed for leading a party declared a criminal gang, Greek far-right groups swept up over 12% of the vote in Sunday's election, mirroring the rise of populist and ultra-nationalist politicians across Europe.