Greece turns right

On July 7th, the parliamentary elections in Greece the victory went   to the conservative New Democracy party. He gets 40% of the vote, which gives him an absolute majority. This election was organized in advance in response to the low score of the Syriza party in the European elections of May 26th.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, of the New Democracy Party, conquered voters by promising tax cuts, investments that could stimulate Greek growth and thereby jobs and improved purchasing power. This shift to the right indicates a willingness of the Greek people to emerge from the crisis in accordance with the line imposed by the European Union.

But this can also be interpreted as a punishment for Alexis Tsipras’s broken promises. Indeed, the latter had to resign himself to signing an austerity plan despite the refusal of the Greek people expressed by referendum. Moreover, the high rate of abstention proves that the Greeks no longer have confidence in their political system.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a member of an illustrious Greek family, has been appointed Prime Minister and is in charge of forming a government. This appointment has elicited warm reactions from European leaders (or ex-leaders) such as Theresa May or Jean-Claude Junker. But will he succeed in restoring this trust? We can question the feasibility of the key measure of his campaign, the tax cut, in a context where the public debt represents 180% of GDP.

Alexis Tsipras and his party Syriza then become the second largest political force in the country with 32% of the vote. He now represents the opposition, replacing the socialist Pasok party. The far-left party therefore settles in the political landscape of the country. These legislative elections, through the renewal for 4 years of the 300 deputies of the Greek Parliament, thus confirm the trend that appeared during the European elections.