Greek voters on Sunday overwhelmingly re-elected the conservative New Democracy party, preliminary results showed, setting the stage for its leader, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, to strengthen his grip on power with an absolute majority and what he called a “strong mandate” for the foreseeable future.
With his landslide victory, voters appeared to have overlooked his government’s ties to a series of scandals and embrace his promise of continued economic stability and prosperity.
With 91 percent of the votes counted at 9:45 p.m., the party had 40.5 percent, and was poised to win 158 seats in Greece’s 300-member Parliament, far ahead of the opposition Syriza party, which was in second place with 17.8 percent, with 47 seats.
The socialist Pasok party took third place, with 12.5 percent, and got 32 seats.
In a statement from his party’s headquarters in Athens, the capital, Mr. Mitsotakis described the results as “a strong mandate, to move more quickly along the road of major changes.”
Persons:
Kyriakos, Mitsotakis
Organizations:
Sunday, New Democracy, Pasok
Locations:
Greece’s, Athens