ATHENS — Greek conservative opposition leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis comfortably won a parliamentary election Sunday as voters rejected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras after a tumultuous four years of the country struggling through a crippling financial crisis.
With more than 90% of votes counted, Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party had 39.8% of the votes, compared to 31.5% for Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party.
The extreme right-wing Golden Dawn, founded by neo-Nazi supporters, fell just below the 3% threshold needed to enter parliament — a major decline in support for a party that had become the third-largest in the Greek legislature during the country’s financial crisis.
The results indicated Greek voters were bucking a recent trend in Europe of citizens rejecting the political mainstream and turning to populist and euroskeptic parties.
“I asked for a strong mandate to change Greece. You offered it generously,” Mitsotakis said in his victory speech. “From today, a difficult but beautiful fight begins.”
Mitsotakis. 51, vowed to abide by his campaign pledges to cut taxes, attract investment and improve the job market. “Greeks deserve better and the time has come for us to prove it,” he said.
Tsipras conceded defeat and said he phoned Mitsotakis to congratulate him.
“The citizens have made their choice. We fully respect the popular vote,” Tsipras said, adding that his party now would fight to protect the rights of working Greeks as “a responsible but dynamic opposition” to the government.
Tsipras said he hoped New Democracy’s return to government “will not lead to vengeance … particularly toward the significant achievements to protect the social majority and the workers.”
The election was the first held since Greece emerged from three...
