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Explained: The Political and Economic Transition in Greece

The Hellenic Parliament (Greece)
The Hellenic Parliament (Greece)

The political and economic policies will change after the recently concluded Elections in Greece. , Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the new PM comes from centre-right politics as opposed to the traditional centre-left Govt

In the recently concluded Greece elections, Kyriakos Mitsotakis became the New Greek Prime Minister after his New Democracy Party won 40 per cent of the vote share in Greek elections.

This was a tremendous victory for the New Democracy Party, which has been at the centre-right side of Greek politics.

Alexis Tsipras, who handed over Prime Ministerial post to Mitsotakis on Monday, is a centre-right politician.

His party, Syriza has been aligned with left-wing politics and a mainstream force of the center-left politics in Greece.

According to a New York Times Report, ‘the political transition in Greece has been an uneventful handover of power that heralded Greece’s return to normality after being ground zero of one of the most tumultuous periods in global economic history’.

The Greek economy collapsed after 2008 Economic Disaster and unemployment rates have been more than 15 per cent each year under Tsipras’s left sided economic policies.

Under Tsipras, the Greek Government gave preference to state-owned companies managed by political appointees over private-sector rivals.

Until now, Greece has been challenging EU (European Union) norms and averting EU pressure to open up sectors such as energy.

The newly-elected PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis has taken office after some of the most tumultuous years in Greece’s modern history, with the country rattled by a prolonged financial crisis.

While the economy is certainly showing modest growth, Greece’s national output shrank by one-quarter during the crisis. Unemployment, at about 18 per cent, remains the highest in the Eurozone.

New Democracy’s victory has also been welcomed by the business community and international investors. After a year of economic stringency and a very slow return to growth, Greece and its EU partners are looking for new approaches that can put the country’s economic policies back on track. 

“Mitsotakis represents the dynamic, educated part of society that rejects the anti-market convictions of the traditional left. He has a long road to complete Greek revival”, says Aris Hatzis, a Greek economist.

Also read: http://diplomacybeyond.com/extreme-poverty-eradication-highest-in-south-asia-says-un-report-2019/