[News Figures] Exclusive: Greek Prime Minister Michotakis Successfully Secures Re-election

New People's Party Led by Michotakis Secures Sole Majority
Expectations for National Credit Rating Upgrade... Financial Sector Experience Helpful

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the Prime Minister who has been revitalizing Greece's economy after 10 years, successfully secured re-election on the 25th (local time). In Greece's second general election, the ruling center-right New Democracy party (ND), led by Mitsotakis, achieved a landslide victory, outpacing the main opposition party by more than 20 percentage points in vote share. The Greek people have once again shown strong support for the economic recovery steps taken by the banker-turned-Prime Minister Mitsotakis.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis
[Photo by EPA Yonhap News]

◆ New Democracy Holds Majority Alone in Second Election Without Coalition

According to daily newspapers such as The Guardian, with over 99% of votes counted, Greece's Ministry of Interior announced that the center-right ruling party New Democracy secured 40.5% of the vote, far ahead of the main opposition party, the radical left Syriza, which garnered 17.8%.

New Democracy is expected to hold 158 out of 300 seats, securing an outright majority. This is due to the revised election law enacted in 2020, which grants the first party a bonus of between 20 and 50 seats depending on its vote share in the second election.

In the first election, New Democracy and Syriza received 40.8% and 20.1% of the votes respectively, with New Democracy securing 146 seats, five short of an outright majority. In Greece, if the first party fails to secure a majority alone, coalition negotiations usually follow, but Prime Minister Mitsotakis declared that "there will be no coalition," leading to the second election.

Thus, New Democracy gained momentum in the second election and comfortably secured a majority with the bonus seats. Mitsotakis’s reappointment as Prime Minister is now assured. In his victory speech, Mitsotakis said, "The people have given us a comfortable majority as a mandate to push reforms," promising to "achieve solid growth through wage increases and healthcare system reforms."

◆ Early Graduation from IMF Bailout, Unemployment Drops, Growth Surges

The key to New Democracy's victory lies in Prime Minister Mitsotakis's economic policies. Greece was one of the countries hit by the European sovereign debt crisis starting in 2009. Facing a fiscal crisis in 2010 that led to a sovereign default, Greece received bailout funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and others, and even by 2018, it had to implement three bailout programs as its economy showed no signs of recovery.

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

However, since Mitsotakis took office in 2019, the Greek economy has shown rapid recovery. In March last year, Greece graduated early from the IMF bailout program. This was the result of Mitsotakis’s market-friendly economic policies, including tax cuts and attracting foreign investment, actively pursued under the banner of economic revival. He rolled back previous populist policies, curbed government spending, and pushed reforms such as universal healthcare reform and privatization of public enterprises, establishing a pro-market stance.

Based on this, through continuous tax cuts, Greece's foreign direct investment last year reached its highest level in 20 years, and the unemployment rate dropped from 27.5% in 2015 to 12.2%. Greece's economic growth rate rose to 8.4% in 2021 and 5.9% last year. The British magazine The Economist named Greece as the country with the most remarkable economic growth last year.

Most importantly, Greece's sovereign credit rating, which had plummeted to the lowest ranks, is now on the verge of recovering to investment grade. Ahead of the second election, Mitsotakis said during a campaign rally, "Our first goal is to restore investment grade," adding, "I believe this can be achieved within a month after the election."

Early in his administration, Mitsotakis faced the crisis of COVID-19 but is credited with minimizing its impact. Although Greece was considered vulnerable at the start of the pandemic due to fiscal conditions and public healthcare system issues, the Mitsotakis cabinet swiftly implemented lockdown measures, conducted contact tracing, and successfully carried out vaccination campaigns, performing better than many other European countries.

Professor Lamprini Louri of the University of Athens told The New York Times (NYT), "We must not underestimate what this economic stability and growth mean materially and emotionally for a country that experienced economic collapse 10 years ago."

◆ Prime Minister with Global Financial Experience... From a Political Dynasty

These economic policies appear to reflect Mitsotakis’s experience in the financial sector. Born in 1968 and now 55 years old, he graduated from the University of Athens, earned a bachelor's degree in sociology from Harvard University, and a master's degree in international policy from Stanford University. He also completed an MBA at Harvard Business School and worked at Chase Bank in London and the global consulting firm McKinsey. Leveraging his economic acumen and practical experience, he has steadily corrected Greece's economy, which had suffered a fiscal crisis.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis posing for photos with his daughter [Image source=EPA Yonhap News]

Mitsotakis entered politics when he was first elected as a member of parliament in 2004. A notable aspect of his background is that he comes from a prominent political family in Greece. He is the eldest son of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, a leading figure of the Greek conservative faction who served as Prime Minister from 1990 to 1993. The father led the New Democracy party for 10 years starting in 1984, and the son has led the party since January 2016. Under his leadership as party leader, New Democracy won the 2019 European Parliament elections and local elections.

Mitsotakis’s sister, Dora Bakoyannis, was the first female mayor of Athens and served as Minister of Foreign Affairs, while his nephew, Kostas Bakoyannis, was elected mayor of Athens in June 2019.

Although Mitsotakis secured a decisive victory this time, analysts note that challenges remain. While not significantly affecting this election, a series of scandals and crises have hit the current administration, including last year's "Greek Watergate" wiretapping scandal, a train collision disaster in February this year, and the recent refugee boat tragedy.

Regarding the scandal in which the Greek National Intelligence Service wiretapped the phones of opposition leader Nikos Androulakis of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) and journalists, Mitsotakis has claimed ignorance, but foreign media assess that it will be difficult for the government to avoid responsibility.

Additionally, government accountability continues to be questioned over Greece's worst-ever train accident in February. A passenger train carrying 350 people from Athens to Thessaloniki collided head-on with a freight train at 150 km/h, killing 57 people. Most victims were university students in their 20s, and criticism has mounted that the government neglected the aging railway system, leading to large-scale protests across Greece.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.