Greece election: Voters face new election in June as New Democracy seeks majority

Greece's Prime Minister and leader of New Democracy Kyriakos Mitsotakis, center, addresses supporters at the headquarters of his party in Athens, Greece, Sunday, May 21, 2023 - Copyright AP

By Sudesh Baniya with AP, AFP

Published on 21/05/2023 - 17:54•Updated 22/05/2023 - 21:41

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Greece faces new national elections, despite the ruling party securing around 40% of the vote in Sunday's general election.

Greece faces new national elections as early as 25 June, despite Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' conservative party securing a 20-point margin - the largest in decades - over its opponents in Sunday's general election.

With over 99% of the votes counted, New Democracy had 40.79% of the ballots and 146 seats, five short of a majority.

Syriza won 20.07% of the vote and 71 seats, while Pasok came in third at 11.46%. Turnout was reported at 61%.

But a new electoral system of proportional representation meant Mitsotakis' vote share still was not enough to secure a majority of the 300 seats in Parliament. He has since confirmed he would not try to form a coalition government.

"I believe that there is essentially no condition for the formation of a government by this Parliament," Mitsotakis said after the general election. "And I certainly want to point out that, if the electoral system that will apply in the next elections was in effect yesterday, the New Democracy would already have a strong parliamentary majority that would exceed 170 seats."

To see how election night unfolded in Athens, and across Greece, see our live blog below:

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