Greece's conservative New Democracy party won a landslide victory in the country's second election in five weeks Sunday, official projections based on early returns showed, gaining enough parliamentary seats to form a government for a second four-year term. Kyriakos Mitsotakis' party is projected to win 40.5% of the vote, with his main rival, the left-wing Syriza party, suffering a crushing defeat with just under 18% projected support, even worse than its 20% in the last elections in May, the AP reports. The main opposition party cast the New Democracy party as a danger to democratic traditions, but voters appeared focused on economic issues.
Sunday's vote came just over a week after a migrant ship capsized and sank off the western coast of Greece, leaving hundreds of people dead and missing and calling into question the actions of Greek authorities and the country's strict migration policy. But the disaster, one of the worst in the Mediterranean in recent years, did not sway the election. The projections indicate Mitsotakis' party will win enough of Parliament's 300 seats to form a stable government, helped by a change in the electoral law that grants the winning party bonus seats. The previous election in May, conducted under a proportional representation system, left him five seats short of a majority despite winning 41% of the vote.
In all, eight parties are projected to surpass the 3% threshold to enter Parliament, including a far-right party and ultra-religious party. Mitsotakis, 55, campaigned on securing economic growth and political stability as Greece gradually recovers from a nearly decade-long financial crisis, per the AP. His main rival, 48-year-old Alexis Tsipras, served as prime minister from 2015 to 2019—some of the most turbulent years of the crisis. "We are voting so people can have a stable government for the next four years," Mitsotakis said after voting Sunday. "I am sure that Greeks will vote with maturity for their personal prosperity and the country's stability." After casting his ballot, Tsipras called the election crucial in "determining the quality of our democracy," adding, "It is determining whether we will have an unchecked government or a strong opposition."
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