Greece to hold national elections on May 21

Greece will hold a parliamentary election on May 21, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday.
The conservative government's four-year term expires in July.
"The country and its citizens need clear horizons... the national elections will be held at the end of the four-year term, as I had committed from the start," Mitsotakis told a televised cabinet meeting.
While opinion polls show Mitsotakis's New Democracy party in the lead over the main opposition, the leftist Syriza party, the gap has narrowed following a rail disaster on Feb. 28 that killed 57 people, stirring public anger.
The May 21 poll will take place under a newly-introduced system of proportional representation. That system makes it difficult for a party to gain a clear majority, setting the stage for a second, run-off round that will take place "at the latest by early July", the premier said.
Mitsotakis, 55, the son of the late former prime minister Constantine Mitsotakis, has remained popular throughout his four-year term, which was due to end in July.
But more recently, his reputation has been dented by allegations of wiretapping by state security services, as well as the government's failure to protect rail network safety.
The election he called is not considered early because it is within six months of the end of his mandate. Greece is moving to a proportional representation system that is likely to result in six parties with seats in parliament.
The recent slide in the polls for the prime minister's party has made a coalition government more likely. But Mitsotakis insisted that New Democracy was seeking outright victory. "Greek men and women, in the elections of May 21, will finally have a choice on whether the country will continue to seek and win the challenge of modernization," he said. The left-wing Syriza party said it would seek political partnerships but has ruled out forming a coalition with the conservatives.
"At Syriza, we will seek a government of cooperation, even if we have an outright victory. The country is facing huge challenges and needs the widest possible social consensus," Alexis Charitsis, a spokesman for the opposition party, told private Antenna television.