Greek president dissolves new parliament, announces fresh elections on June 25

​​​​​​​By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou has dissolved the new parliament and announced new elections set for June 25, local media reported on Monday.

Under a decree, which was also signed by caretaker Prime Minister Ioannis Sarmas and Cabinet ministers, the next time parliament will convene is on July 3, following the fresh polls, said the state-run AMNA news agency.

The last elections, held on May 21, were inconclusive, with the ruling the New Democracy (ND) party winning 40.79% or the vote – a plurality, but not enough to form a single-party government, as ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis hoped to do.

The next day Mitsotakis returned the mandate to form a government, saying he wanted fresh polls for New Democracy to form a single-party government.

Last Tuesday, Alexis Tsipras, leader of the main opposition SYRIZA party, and Nikos Androulakis, leader of the social-democratic PASOK, also turned down the mandate, saying they could not form a coalition government.

On Wednesday, Ioannis Sarmas, former head of the Court of Audit, was sworn in as the caretaker prime minister until the next elections.