New Greek Parliament Sworn In Following Mitsotakis’ Triumph

The members of the Greek Parliament elected in the general elections of June 25 were sworn in on Monday, in a celebratory opening session in the presence of President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

The 300 members of parliament were inducted during a religious ceremony after the June 25 elections returned conservative Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to power for a second four-year term in a landslide victory, crushing the left-wing opposition SYRIZA and prompting opposition leader Alexis Tsipras to announce his resignation.

Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party (ND) now holds a comfortable parliamentary majority, with 158 seats compared to SYRIZA’s 48.

Three far-right parties and one representing the far left reached the 3% minimum threshold for parliamentary seats.

The biggest surprise of the Greek elections was the performance of a new ultra-right formation called the Spartans which got 4.64 percent of the vote and gained 12 seats in the new Parliament.

The grouping was catapulted from relative obscurity after support from Ilias Kasiadiaris, the frontman of the now-banned Golden Dawn far-right party. His own party was barred from the elections and he endorsed the Spartans from jail.

The Spartans are among three fringe parties of the right and one of the left that gained parliamentary representation after Sunday’s elections.

Greek Solution, a nationalist, pro-Russia party formed by former journalist and TV salesman Kyriakos Velopoulos, got 4.47 percent of the vote and will be represented in Parliament with 12 MPs.

Niki, or Victory party which emphasizes Orthodox Christian traditions got 3.71 percent and 10 MPs.

On the left of the political spectrum, the newcomer is Plefsi Eleftherias, or Passage to Freedom, which got 3.17 percent and 8 MPs. Its leader Zoe Konstantopoulou, a leftist firebrand, was the parliament speaker under SYRIZA.

Greek Parliament to elect President and vote for Government

The new parliament will reconvene on Tuesday for the election of the Parliament president and the presidium, based on the proposals of the parliamentary groups and parliamentary rules. The ruling ND party has proposed the previous parliament president, Konstantinos Tasoulas.

A three-day debate on the policy statement of the new government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis will begin on Thursday, July 6. This will conclude with a vote on Saturday, July 8, in which the new government will ask parliament for a vote of confidence.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will start the debate, followed by members of the new government, the presidents of the parliamentary groups, parliamentary spokespersons and MPs from all parties.

The debate will culminate in a roll-call vote held at midnight on the third day of the debate, at the latest, and is carried with an absolute majority of MPs present, which cannot, however, be less than two-fifths (120 MPs) of the plenum.