ATHENS: Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the leader of the conservative New Democracy (ND) party, was sworn in as Greece’s new prime minister on Monday, after a landslide victory on promises of lowering taxes and creating jobs.
Less than 24 hours earlier, ND resoundingly defeated Mitsotakis’ leftist rival Alexis Tsipras and his Syriza party in the first parliamentary elections since Greece emerged from a crippling financial crisis.
Defeated premier Tsipras and analysts attributed the election result to harsh reforms his government was forced to implement under the terms of international bailouts, the last of which expired in August.
ND won an outright majority of 158 seats in the 300-memberparliament, allowing Mitsotakis to govern without a coalition partner and to take office immediately. Mitsotakis promised to attract investments and fuel growth with tax cuts, create jobs and generally improve the standard of living, which has steadily deteriorated for the average Greek during the economic crisis. “I asked and the voters gave us strong mandate to change Greece,”Mitsotakis said after President Prokopis Pavlopoulos swore him in earlier on Monday.
Events unfolded quickly after polling stations closed on Sunday, and the whirlwind aftermath, without major celebrations, underlines the sense of urgency that Mitsotakis had already conveyed during the campaign.
He was due to present his cabinet later Monday. It is expected to be sworn on Tuesday, and will face a vote of confidence in parliament on July 21.
There will be no usual four-week vacation for lawmakers in August, Mitsotakis announced.
He intends to put Greece firmly on the path towards full economic recovery by softening the conditions of debt repayment to creditors. — dpa
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