PM promises party faithful a clear election victory in 12 months

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Sunday his goal is for the ruling center-right New Democracy to obtain another parliamentary majority in elections “that will take place 12 months from now.”

But, to obtain that majority, two successive elections will have to take place, as the first one, fought under a proportional representation law passed by the previous leftist SYRIZA government makes it all but impossible for a single party to win the majority of the seats in the 300-member Parliament.

The Mitsotakis government has since voted a law awarding a 30-seat bonus to the party that wins the election. However, the Greek constitution provides that a new electoral law can take effect only in the second election after it is passed, unless it is approved by two-thirds of the MPs.

Mitsotakis, speaking at the close of his party’s 14th Congress Sunday, said that SYRIZA “unscrupulously and in cahoots with (extreme right) Golden Dawn voted” the electoral law that “created a problem of governance in the country.”

Mitsotakis says his party, which has consistently been leading in opinion polls, will face the first election as “the springboard to the final victory.”

Mitsotakis touted his government’s performance during a term marked mostly by the restrictions of the Covid-19 pandemic. “We did not deceive the citizens. We were elected on a specific program, which we are implementing.”

But, as Mitsotakis said in a just-published lengthy interview to Sunday newspaper To Vima, the voters will not vote a government back in power for what it has done, but for what it plans to do. And, as he told the congress delegates, “we have a four-year program, an eight-year plan and a decade-long vision.” He also emphasized the plan to mitigate the effects of higher energy prices and the rise, twice in a few months, in the minimum wage.

The Prime Minister also attacked SYRIZA, warning that, in the runup to the double election, “populism will deal its last hand…it will be its most desperate attack, harshest and most vulgar than ever.”

Mitsotakis also said that, because of his government, the country’s international position is stronger than ever. He referred to his upcoming visit to the United States and his address to the US Congress on Tuesday, May 17, adding that, on the previous Thursday, May 12, the Greek Parliament will ratify the 5-year extension of the Mutual Defense and Cooperation Agreement with the United States.