Athens, 26 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - One day after parliamentary elections, the former and new Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was sworn on Monday afternoon and has formed a government.

A quick turnaround is typical for the conservative election winner and his New Democracy (ND) party, with Mitsotakis already presenting his Cabinet on Monday.

Mitsotakis now plans to quickly implement further reforms, he said at a meeting with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou.

According to media reports, there will be some changes in the new Cabinet, as Giorgos Gerapetritis, a close ally of Mitsotakis, becomes foreign minister. The post is of great importance in Greece, not least because of the conflicts with neighbouring Turkey that flare up again and again.

Outgoing Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, who was considered popular and successful, is expected to become defence minister, another important post because of Greece's high level of defence spending.

The biggest challenges for the new government are the modernization of the run-down health system and the outdated education sector.

In addition, Mitsotakis plans to lead the still highly indebted country back into creditworthiness in the coming months. The country's international rankings have improved recently.

The streamlining of the state and the digitalization of the authorities are also to be continued.

With 99.6% of the votes counted, Mitsotakis' ND won 40.6% of the votes cast, according to election figures provided by the Interior Ministry.

With 158 parliamentary seats, the prime minister has an absolute majority in the 300-seat parliament, making his party one of the strongest conservative parties in the European Union.

Mitsotakis' strongest rival, the left-wing SYRIZA party of former head of government Alexis Tsipras, received 17.8% and now has 48 seats in parliament. This was the worst result for SYRIZA in 10 years.

On the evening of the election, Tsipras himself admitted the "heavy defeat" and promised to face the judgement of his party. However, this does not necessarily mean that he is ready to resign, according to Greek media.

The far-right Spartans made it over the 3% hurdle to enter parliament with 4.6%, or 12 seats, becoming the fifth strongest force in parliament and dominating the discussions in the media on Monday.

The currently imprisoned right-wing extremist Ilias Kasidiaris had a strong influence on Sunday's elections from his jail cell, according to media reports, saying he would support the Spartans.

Kasidiaris had previously failed several times in court in his bid to stand in the elections himself.

He was part of the leadership cadre of the far-right Golden Dawn party, which was represented in parliament for many years before the entire leadership was convicted of forming a criminal organization and other offences. They have been in prison ever since.

Before the elections, Kasidiaris announced through his lawyer that he would support the Spartans party with all his strength, the daily newspaper Kathimerini said.

Spartans party leader Vassilis Stigas thanked Kasidiaris during the election evening. "The support of Ilias Kasidiaris was the fuel for the election result," he told journalists.

Meanwhile the right-wing populist Greek Solution party garnered 4.5% of the vote for 12 seats, and the ultra-orthodox Victory party received 3.7% and 10 seats.

The radical left-wing Course of Freedom party got 3.2% of the vote for eight seats, just clear of the 3% threshold.