Greek President Appoints Interim Prime Minister

Former justice official Ioannis Sarmas, who was appointed as Greece's interim prime minister . Photo: AFP/TTXVN

In the election held last weekend, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' New Democracy party led with 40.1% of the vote but did not have enough of a solid majority to form a government on its own. The second and third parties refused to join the coalition with the New Democracy party, forcing Greece to hold a second election on June 25.

Prime Minister Mitsotakis believes that the second election will give his party the advantage it needs to form a government. Opposition parties are also hoping that the upcoming election will help improve their rankings.

On May 24, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou invited the leaders of all parties with more than 3% of the vote to discuss the next steps. However, the brief discussions did not lead to the formation of a coalition government. According to the Greek Constitution, if negotiations to form a governing coalition fail to produce results, the president can appoint an interim prime minister to lead the country to a second election.

Under Greece’s electoral system, the party that wins the second election (after the first election was inconclusive) will be awarded up to 50 additional seats in parliament for each constituency in which it receives more than 25% of the vote. To receive the additional seats, New Democracy needs to maintain its lead. However, this could also happen to its closest rival, Syriza, which received 20% of the vote in the May 21 election. If Syriza receives 40% of the vote or slightly less, it could win a clear majority.

The new parliament based on the results of the May 21 election will convene on May 28 and dissolve a day later before the caretaker government takes over the country's leadership.

Source: VNA

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