Posted on Jul 9, 2019
Greek Voters Welcome Centrist Government, Reject Leftists Amid Long Financial Crisis
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Greeks elected a conservative party led by the scion of a powerful political dynasty in national elections on Sunday, a rejection of the country's left-wing government seen as being too slow in improving the economy after a long financial crisis.
"The Greek people gave us a strong mandate to change Greece," Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the New Democracy party told reporters shortly after he was sworn in as prime minister on Monday. "I'm confident we will rise to the challenge."
Mitsotakis' win for the center-right New Democracy party, which has been a fixture of Greek politics for decades, cuts against a recent trend of Europeans favoring populist nationalist parties and euroskeptic candidates.
"Mitsotakis proved more adept than his political rivals, even within his own party, at realizing that after nine years under economic adjustment programs, Greeks wanted to look forward," says Nick Malkoutzis, editor of the political analysis website MacroPolis. "They wanted to hear about how their country might change for the better, rather than rehash old arguments about who was to blame for its demise."
"The Greek people gave us a strong mandate to change Greece," Kyriakos Mitsotakis of the New Democracy party told reporters shortly after he was sworn in as prime minister on Monday. "I'm confident we will rise to the challenge."
Mitsotakis' win for the center-right New Democracy party, which has been a fixture of Greek politics for decades, cuts against a recent trend of Europeans favoring populist nationalist parties and euroskeptic candidates.
"Mitsotakis proved more adept than his political rivals, even within his own party, at realizing that after nine years under economic adjustment programs, Greeks wanted to look forward," says Nick Malkoutzis, editor of the political analysis website MacroPolis. "They wanted to hear about how their country might change for the better, rather than rehash old arguments about who was to blame for its demise."
Greek Voters Welcome Centrist Government, Reject Leftists Amid Long Financial Crisis
Posted from npr.org
Greece
Voting
Elections
Posted >1 y ago
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Bill Clinton said it's the economy, stupid. He was right in so many ways.
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What? Leftist governments are not good at managing an economy?
Truth is, the socialist-leaning parties in Greece drove the country so deep in a hole financially that Greece was damn near expelled from the EU. They had to take some very serious restrictions on their sovereignty in order to secure loans, mainly from Germany. Those continued restrictions on spending have curtailed how the formerly ruling party secured their base, leading to their loss of confidence and ouster from power. The Leftists are not far out from power in Palaiment, though, so don't count them out.
If this new government ushers in more prosperity - and they may well do so given market forces already working there - the Conservatives might hold power for a long time.
Truth is, the socialist-leaning parties in Greece drove the country so deep in a hole financially that Greece was damn near expelled from the EU. They had to take some very serious restrictions on their sovereignty in order to secure loans, mainly from Germany. Those continued restrictions on spending have curtailed how the formerly ruling party secured their base, leading to their loss of confidence and ouster from power. The Leftists are not far out from power in Palaiment, though, so don't count them out.
If this new government ushers in more prosperity - and they may well do so given market forces already working there - the Conservatives might hold power for a long time.
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
1SG (Join to see) "Conservative" Not Quite the "Conservative" Populist, Borderline Fascist taking Hold in the Rest of Europe. These Actually Sound like Centrist. Thank God!
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