Greece’s conservative prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has won national elections, hailing his party’s big victory as a “political earthquake,” the BBC reports.
His centre-right New Democracy party were heading for almost 41% of the vote, five seats short of a majority.
His centre-left rival Alexis Tsipras congratulated him, with his Syriza party set for a poor result of 20%.
Mr Mitsotakis said the result showed that Greeks had given his party a mandate for a four-year government.
“The people wanted the choice of a Greece run by a majority government and by New Democracy without the help of others,” he said in a victory speech.
Mr Mitsotakis’s party won 146 seats, five seats short of the 151 required for a majority. An interior ministry vote map showed all but one of Greece’s electoral districts coloured in New Democracy blue.
The prime minister’s remarks were taken as indication that he would not look to share power with another party but go for a second election in late June, when the winning party picks up bonus seats.
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will offer him a mandate to form a coalition, which he is likely to refuse. She will then pass it to the next two parties, and if that fails she will arrange a caretaker government until new elections.
