Greece has pinned its national election date to May 21, the prime minister announced as he reaffirmed a commitment to completing his four-year term, which ends in July.
“The country and its citizens need clear horizons,” Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday during a televised cabinet meeting.
Greece’s use of proportional representation will make it hard for a single party to form a government.
A second semi-proportional representation ballot would be expected at the latest by the beginning of July.
New Democracy, the ruling center-right party, leads in the polls but this month’s fatal train collision, the worst in Greece in decades, have dented its popularity.
The latest polls showed a drop in New Democracy’s margin to around 3 points over the leftist Syriza.