Greece appoints caretaker PM ahead of June repeat election
Reuters
Published May 24, 2023 03:02AM ET
Updated May 24, 2023 07:17AM ET
By Lefteris Papadimas
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece's president appointed a caretaker prime minister on Wednesday to form a government that will lead the country to a repeat election on June 25, after last weekend's inconclusive vote.
The conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stormed to victory polling 40.1% last Sunday, but fell short of an outright majority. The two parties that followed also refused to form a coalition, pushing for a second vote on June 25.
Mitsotakis believes a second vote, which gives the leading party bonus seats, will give New Democracy the majority needed to rule alone.
Opposition parties also hope a second vote will boost their ratings.
On Wednesday, President Katerina Sakellaropoulou invited the leaders of all the parties whose share of votes surpassed the threshold of 3% to discuss steps forward. The invitation was procedural, and the brief talks did not produce a coalition government.
Under Greece's constitution, if coalition talks fail, the president appoints a caretaker prime minister to lead the country to a repeat vote.
She appointed Ioannis Sarmas, a senior judicial official who is president of the Hellenic Court of Audit, one of the country's three senior courts.
"It is a constitutional obligation and at the same time my duty as a citizen to accept," Sarmas told Sakellaropoulou.
The leader of the Communist KKE party Dimitris Koutsoumbas said a repeat election would be held on June 25.
"We are led to a caretaker government, with elections on June 25 and there we will give battle," Koutsoumbas told state ERT TV.
Under Greece's electoral system, the winner of a second vote following an inconclusive first election can receive up to 50 bonus seats for every point it wins beyond 25%.
To benefit from bonus seats, New Democracy needs to stay the biggest party, but that seems likely as its nearest rival, Syriza, secured just a fifth of the votes on May 21. If it secures 40% of the vote again or even a little less, it will most likely have a clear majority.
The total seats New Democracy secures will, however, depend on how many other parties make it into parliament.
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The new parliament which emerged from the May 21 election will convene next Sunday and be dissolved a day later before the caretaker government takes over.
Written By: Reuters
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