Greece appoints senior judge Ioannis Sarmas as a caretaker prime minister, to oversee a temporary government while a new election is prepared.
Greece held a general election on Sunday, but no party won by enough of a lead to establish a new government, leaving the country at loose ends. Officials are already preparing the next election, which will use a new system that boosts the party receiving the popular vote, so the failure will hopefully not be repeated. The tentative date for the next election will be June 25th.
Ioannis Sarmas, 66, is from the island of Kos. He studied law in both Greece and France, served in the Greek Airr Force, and began his career as a Magistrate at the Greek Council of State in 1987. He then served on the Hellenic Court of Audit, and the European Court of Auditors, building a solid base of diplomatic and legal expertise. He’s also taught law for most of his career, and published in-depth studies of the troubles in the Greek economy as they relate to Greek law. On paper, he appears to be a solid, dependable choice as a caretaker. He will be sworn in on Thursday afternoon.
In the failed election, former Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his conservative New Democracy party won by a landslide, beating his left-leaning opponents by over 20 percentage points. But not by enough to make a parliamentary majority, meaning he hasn’t won yet. Though he is expected to take the top seat after the next election.
Mitsotakis and the leaders of four other political parties represented in parliament held a joint meeting Wednesday with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou to discuss arrangements for the upcoming election. As it will be held in a new system, there are concerns that an unpopular result will not be accepted by those who don’t back the victor.
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