Former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis on Monday called the performance of his MeRA25 party in the elections for the European parliament “a small political revolution.”
His party was on the cusp of securing a seat in the EU body for the first time. With 90 percent of the votes now counted, MeRA25 was just above the three-percent threshold of support required for a seat. As of Tuesday morning, the party had earned 3.01 percent of votes in the EU elections.
Later on Tuesday, however, with 97.5 percent of the vote counted, it was determined that MeRA25 had only gained 2.99 percent of the vote, meaning that the party will be barred from sending a representative to the EU Parliament by a margin of just a handful of votes.
Sofia Sakorafa, a former javelin champion, would become the party’s MEP, although the remaining results will determine whether or not she secures a seat, with the odds now being against her.
If MeRA25 does not elect a representative to the European Parliament, the New Democracy Party will elect eight instead of seven MEPs, with ex-To Potami MP George Amyras or ex-MEP Theodoros Zagorakis fighting to secure ND’s eighth place.
In comments to the radio station “News 24/7,” Varoufakis said his party was ready for snap elections, which Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he would call after the second round of local and regional authority polls on June 2.
Commenting on the leftist SYRIZA Party’s defeat, Varoufakis remarked that Greeks had “totally rejected” the country’s cooperation with the so-called “troika” of international creditors.
Varoufakis, who served as the Greek Minister of Finance from January to July 2015, led the tense negotiations with Greece’s creditors during the Greek government-debt crisis.
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