In his first interview after European Parliament Elections last Sunday, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said “corrective measures” would be taken, admitting that the result for his ruling New Democracy (ND) party was far from expectations.
In the midst of increasing press speculation, Mitsotakis ruled out early elections and instead hinted, in an interview on Alpha channel, at a government reshuffle.
Commenting on the election result, which saw conservative ND receive 28.31% of the vote and seven seats out of the 21 allocated to Greece in the 720-seat European Parliament, the Greek PM said he was “concerned and relieved”, adding that it was better that the Greek people sent the message early on.
In general elections last May, New Democracy party won 40.79% of the vote clinching 146 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament.
“It is my responsibility to correctly decode the election result and to take corrective actions that will show citizens that we’ve taken their message into account,” he said.
Among others, Mitsotakis attributed the lower-than-expected result for the ruling party to the soaring prices of goods and a higher cost of living, as well as to his government’s bold decision to legalize same sex marriage.
Lastly, he said general elections would be held as scheduled in 2027. “I believe in four-year cycles so that citizens have time to assess. There is no question of early elections. We will proceed with big changes,” he said.
Sunday’s EU elections saw a poor voter turnout in Greece with a record-breaking 59.5% of registered voters not casting a ballot. According to Interior Ministry data, 3,891,466 people participated in the election last Sunday, out of a total of 9,605,244 registered voters, bringing participation to 40.5%.
