Coronavirus Praise As Greek PM Completes First Year In Office

Athens, July 7 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 7th Jul, 2020 ) :Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis completes a year in office Tuesday riding high in opinion polls, his reputation further enhanced by his government's positive handling of the coronavirus pndemic.

But analysts note that tackling the severe impact of the coronavirus lockdown on Greece's fragile economy will be the true test of his leadership.

"Even before (last year's) elections, Mitsotakis cultivated the image of a serious technocrat and hard-working leader," Nikos Marantzidis, a professor of Balkan studies at the university of Macedonia, told AFP.

"This image was reinforced during the pandemic.

" More than 67 percent judged Mitsotakis' premiership positively in a Marc poll published by Proto Thema weekly Sunday.

And recent polls have consistently shown the PM's New Democracy party leading the main opposition leftist Syriza party by over 15 percent.

"Rarely has so much been achieved in such a short space of time," Mitsotakis told his cabinet on June 30.

"I think the great majority of Greek society would agree," he added.

The government also scored points in March by blocking a migration surge encouraged by neighbour Turkey, and fulfilling tax cut promises also proved popular.