(ANSA-AFP).
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
(ANSA-AFP) - ATHENS, MAY 22 - Greece's Prime Minister
Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Monday he was seeking a new vote as
soon as on June 25 in order to obtain a ruling majority, a day
after his party won national elections that failed to produce a
single-party government. The conservative New Democracy party of
Mitsotakis trounced its rivals in Sunday's vote, with a 20-point
lead over its nearest contender -- Syriza, led by leftist Alexis
Tsipras. Voters handed the conservatives their best result since
2007, crediting the party with bringing economic stability back
to a nation once known as an EU laggard. "Shock and awe",
headlined left-wing daily Efsyn on Monday, summing up the
feeling shared by both New Democracy and Syriza voters, while
pro-government Proto Thema noted that the double-digit margin
was the widest seen since 1974. The "political earthquake"
hailed by Mitsotakis sent the Athens stock market to its highest
in almost a decade. But the win fell five seats short of an
outright majority, leaving Mitsotakis with the option of either
seeking a coalition or calling a new vote. The 55-year-old
Harvard graduate on Monday declined power sharing, telling
President Katerina Sakallaropoulou, who handed him the mandate
to form a government, that it was not possible to form a
coalition under the current parliamentary line-up. Greece should
head for new elections "as soon as possible," he said.
(ANSA-AFP).
(ANSA-AFP).
