Greece to hold national election on May 21 - PM

The conservative government's four-year term expires in July. "The country and its citizens need clear horizons... 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.

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.