The failure to establish a government following the general elections in Greece led to the appointment of Ioanis Sarmas, the president of the Court of Accounts, as prime minister of the interim administration that will govern the nation until the elections. Sarmas took the oath.
Following the failure of a coalition government to form and the failure of no party to win a majority in the general elections held on May 21, Greek President Katerina Sakelaropulu named Sarmas as the interim prime minister until the second elections on June 25.
After today's swearing-in ceremony at the Presidency, Sarmas replaced former Greek Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis in the position.
According to reports in the Greek media, the Defense Minister, Alkiviadis Stefanis, the former Deputy Minister of Defense of Greece, and the Commander of the Land Forces, Haralambos Lalusis, the former Commander of the Land Forces, served in Sarmas' cabinet in addition to retired ambassador Vasilis Kaskarelis, who also served in the Greek Embassy in Ankara. He will likely hold the position of Minister of Citizen Protection.
The new administration is anticipated to take the oath tomorrow, and Kaskarelis and Stefanis are reportedly well-known figures in Turkish-Greek ties.
Unofficial results from the Greek general elections show that New Democracy won more than 40% of the vote (146 seats) and outperformed its nearest challenger, the Radical Left Alliance (SYRIZA), by 20 points, but it was unable to secure the 151 seats required to take power alone.
The leaders of New Democracy, Kiryakos Mitsotakis, and SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, returned to form the government on the grounds that the prerequisites for a coalition were not reached.
Nikos Andrulakis, the third-place finisher in the polls and head of the PASOK-KINAL alliance, also turned down the same assignment from President Sakelaropulu.