Mitsotakis says Greeks can ‘claim a better future’ as he receives government mandate
New Democracy leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis described his re-election as prime minister a “special honor” that will provide him with a four-year horizon to implement reforms, in a meeting with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Monday morning.
Sakellaropoulou officially invited Mitsotakis to form a government after he secured a resounding victory in a repeat election on Sunday, gaining 40.5% of the vote and 158 seats in the 300-seat parliament, more than 20 points clear of the leftist SYRIZA.
“I now entrust you with the mandate to form a government,” the president said in a brief exchange before the cameras.
“Greek citizens have the right to demand a better future,” Mitsotakis replied, promising “big changes and big reforms” in his new term. “We have a strong mandate and a comfortable parliamentary majority, our government will be a government of hard work and practical results.”
“The election result reserved some surprises but our democracy is mature enough to handle any temporary upheavals,” he continued, in an apparent reference to the smaller, far-right or protest parties that entered Parliament.
“This Parliament was the death knell of proportional representation,” he continued, in a reference to the political system with which the previous elections on May 21 were held. “The most important thing is that the Greeks voted for a single-party government.”
“Democracy proved to be resilient after a series of crises,” Sakellaropoulou replied.
