You're listening to a podcast from the BBC World Service. This is Hard Talk with me, Zainab Bedawi.

Thanks for downloading this edition of the program and I hope you enjoy it.

A new government has taken office in Greece after the centre-right New Democracy Party won the elections.

My guest is the Prime Minister, Kiliakos Mitsototakis in his first interview since his decisive victory over the populist Sariza Party.

But he takes over a country traumatised and impoverished by a decade of economic austerity.

Can he deliver on his campaign promises and transform Greece's fortunes?

Prime Minister Kiriakos, Mitsotakis, in Athens, welcome to hard talk. Thank you very much.

This was not a ringing endorsement of New Democracy and you, was it? It was more a protest vote

against the former government

led by Ceresa? I'm not too sure. We got 40% of the popular vote. We are in a position

to form a government on our own. We have an absolute majority. We have a very strong mandate.

And at a time when European politics tend to get constantly more fragmented, we have managed to

consolidate our base, increase our share of vote by 12%, from 28% to 40%, and you won't find many

centre-right parties in Europe these days reaching those numbers.

But if you look at the composition of the Parliament, the centre-left collectively had

48% of the vote. That's a lot of Greek people who still believe in the centre-left.

Well, the centre-left is highly fragmented if you can't see it as a party of the centre left.

I still have my doubts as to whether they can evolve into a party that belongs to the centre left.

But my main concern today is to make good use of the strong mandate that I received from the Greek people.

But you have to convince those people who did cast their votes for Ceresa and center-left parties

that you represent them.

My job, my job, yeah. You're right to point out that I made a campaign pledge that I want to unite Greece after four years of divisive politics.

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