PM officially sets May 21 election date

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday officially announced the date of Greece’s parliamentary elections, saying they will take place on May 21.

Speaking at a meeting of his ministers in Athens, the conservative leader said that if the first round of voting is inconclusive and a government is not formed, the second round will take place by early July at the latest.

Mitsotakis noted that the date marks the end of the government’s four-year term and also accounts for the national university entrance exams in June and the start of the tourism season.

The premier also spoke of the perils of an inconclusive first round, describing the failure to form a government as a “trap,” while adding that the first round will determine “who will govern” and the second “how they will govern.”

“Citizens need to know who they’re voting for as prime minister,” Mitsotakis said, warning that the simple proportional representation system has resulted in a “maelstrom of instability” in other European countries.

Looking back on his government’s time in office, Mitsotakis said that “Greece is in a much better place in 2023 than it was in 2019.”

Conceding that “mistakes were made,” he said that the government’s work “will continue” to “change Greece more unconventionally and boldly.”