Greek PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis sets parliamentary elections for May 21

March 28 (UPI) -- Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis announced Tuesday that the country's parliamentary elections will take place on May 21.

The elections come as his New Democracy government's four-year term is set to expire in July.

"The country and its citizens need clear horizons," Mitsotakis said during a Cabinet meeting. "The national elections will be held at the end of the four-year term, as I had committed from the start. They will take place on Sunday, May 21."

The vote will be carried out the nation's new proportional representation system, which will make it more difficult for singular parties to establish a majority, but Mitsotakis said he would still aim to obtain a majority without forming a coalition government.

"If a second round is needed to cancel the adventure of proportional representation, it will take place by July at the latest," he said.

He said that a failure to establish a government in a single round of voting is a "trap," saying that the first round of voting will establish "who will govern" while the second will decide "how they will govern."

The vote also comes in the wake of a train derailment that killed 57 people in February.

Mitsotakis said that while "mistakes were made" under his leadership, the government would continue to work to "change Greece more unconventionally and boldly."

"Greece is a much better place in 2023 than it was in 2019," he said.