Greece gets caretaker PM ahead of new vote

ATHENS — Greece's president appointed a caretaker prime minister on Wednesday to form a government that will lead the country to a repeat election on June 25, after Sunday's vote.

"President Katerina Sakellaropoulou will receive … Ioannis Sarmas to charge him with forming a government and organizing elections," the presidency said in a statement.

The conservative New Democracy party of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis stormed to victory polling 40.1 percent last Sunday, but fell short of an outright majority. The two parties that followed also refused to form a coalition, pushing for a second vote on June 25.

Mitsotakis believes a second vote, which gives the leading party bonus seats, will give New Democracy the majority needed to rule alone.

Opposition parties also hope a second vote will boost their ratings.

On Wednesday, Sakellaropoulou invited the leaders of all the parties whose share of votes surpassed the threshold of 3 percent to discuss steps forward. The invitation was procedural, and the brief talks did not produce a coalition government.

Under Greece's constitution, if coalition talks fail, the president appoints a caretaker prime minister to lead the country to a repeat vote.

She appointed Sarmas, a senior judicial official who is president of the Hellenic Court of Audit, one of the country's three senior courts.

"It is a constitutional obligation and at the same time my duty as a citizen to accept," Sarmas told Sakellaropoulou.

Born on the island of Kos, Sarmas followed a career in the courts after studying law in Athens and Paris, as well as completing a doctorate.

On Tuesday, the two main opposition parties turned down mandates offered to them to form a coalition government.

Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras and Socialist PASOK head Nikos Androulakis handed back mandates offered to them separately by Sakellaropoulou.

"I have no reason to hide that the election result is a painful shock for us. Unexpected and painful," Tsipras told reporters.

To benefit from bonus seats, New Democracy needs to stay the biggest party, but that seems likely as its nearest rival, Syriza, secured just a fifth of the votes on May 21. If it secures 40 percent of the vote again or even a little less, it will most likely have a clear majority.

The total number of seats New Democracy secures will, however, depend on how many other parties make it into Parliament.

The new parliament which emerged from the May 21 election will convene next Sunday and be dissolved a day later before the caretaker government takes over.

Agencies via Xinhua