Greece eyes new vote as PM to seek absolute majority

ATHENS—A day after national elections failed to produce a single-party government, Greece on Monday was bracing for a new ballot which votewinner Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ party is poised to seek in order to govern alone.

The conservative New Democracy party of Mitsotakis scored a thumping win in Sunday’s vote, with a clear 20-point lead over its nearest rival—Syriza led by leftist Alexis Tsipras.

Voters handed the conservatives their best result since 2007, crediting the party with bringing economic stability back to a nation once known as an EU laggard.

But the win fell short of an outright majority, leaving Mitsotakis with the option of either seeking a coalition or calling a new vote.

Left-wing daily Efsyn on Monday was headlined “Shock and awe”, a feeling shared by both New Democracy and Syriza voters, while pro- government Proto Thema noted that the double-digit divide was the widest seen in the country since 1974.

Mitsotakis himself said the “great victory surpassed our own expectations”.

With the count almost complete, New Democracy won 146 seats in the 300-deputy parliament—five short of a majority.

The 55-year-old Harvard graduate on Sunday made clear his preferred option for a new ballot. AFP

Biden, McCarthy set to resume US debt talks with 10 days until deadline

WASHINGTON, USA—Anxiet-

ies were mounting in Washington ahead of President Joe Biden’s Monday meeting with Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy over negotiations to raise the US debt ceiling, less than two weeks before a key deadline to avoid a disastrous default.

After a weekend of near deadlock, Biden arrived back in Washington late Sunday, cutting short a trip to Asia to resume talks ahead of the US Treasury’s June 1 deadline for Congress to authorize more borrowing. Ahead of their Monday afternoon meeting, Biden and McCarthy spoke as the president flew back to the United States on Air Force One.

“It went well,” Biden told reporters of the phone call as he arrived at the White House Sunday night.

“We’ll talk tomorrow.” And earlier in the day, McCarthy had said the conversation was “productive” —in contrast to the sharp words exchanged in a previous round of negotiations.

Still, the two sides seemed far from a final compromise, as Biden said Sunday that Republicans’ latest demands for spending cuts as a condition for raising the US government borrowing authority were “frankly unacceptable.”

“It’s time for the other side to move from their extreme positions,” he said at a press conference before leaving the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan.

And in a tweet, Biden maintained that he was categorically opposed to slashing social and healthcare assistance.

“I will not agree to a deal with House Republicans that protect billions in subsidies for Big Oil while putting the healthcare of 21 million Americans at risk,” Biden said.

And for his part, McCarthy said his position remained unchanged. “Washington cannot continue to spend money we do not have at the expense of children and grandchildren,” he said on Twitter after talking to Biden. AFP