PM: Outright majority or new election
Having hinted on Tuesday at the possibility of a third election, New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis emphasized that if his center-right party fails to win an outright majority in the June 25 election, then a third ballot is almost a foregone conclusion.
Essentially, the dilemma posed to voters by Mitsotakis is either ND secures an outright majority or another election will be called in August.
The disapproval that main opposition SYRIZA was subject to on May 21 and the large-scale victory of ND at the same time demonstrate that Mitsotakis has an audience to “push” toward an outright majority, as that is what the Greek people expressed in the last election.
Mitsotakis is not just asking for an outright majority to form a single-party government but a “secure” one, which means 155 MPs or above. This tactic is part of the same logic of clear and hard dilemmas posed in the runup to June 25, as the issue of forming a minority government is no longer on the horizon.
The above reflects the will of Greece’s conservatives to rally to the greatest extent possible the people that voted for ND on May 21. However, since an election process is always unpredictable and starts from scratch, the ND president, with the clear dilemma he posed, also addressed the voters of other parties, both from the left and the right of ND.
Moreover, by accusing PASOK of being the party that closed the door on any cooperation with ND, Mitsotakis addressed centrists, asking them not to risk a period of instability and ungovernability by changing their vote, since “ND has already won.”
Indeed one of the greatest dangers for ND is that a portion of those who voted for it on May 21 will consider that the battle has been decided and move on to another party.
