Greece election: new Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis sworn in, vows end to ‘painful’ era
- The election on Sunday was the first since Greece emerged from three international bailouts
- Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the new PM, has vowed to abide by his campaign pledges to cut taxes, attract investment and improve the job market
Greece’s new conservative prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn in on Monday following a landslide victory in Sunday’s general election.
Live TV coverage showed the 51-year-old Harvard graduate and former McKinsey consultant, who has pledged to create jobs and get rid of obstacles to business, take the oath of office in the presence of his wife and three children.
At the polls, Mitsotakis crushed leftist incumbent Alexis Tsipras, who oversaw austerity measures after Greece’s dramatic rescue by international creditors in the European debt crisis.
“A painful cycle has closed,” Mitsotakis said in a televised address, adding that Greece would “proudly raise its head again” on his watch.
“I will not fail to honour your hopes,” he said as early congratulations calls came from outgoing European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.