Greece swept away 11 years of socialist rule and elected its youngest prime minister ever in yesterday's general election.
In a conservative comeback that was expected, Mr Costas Karamanlis lead his New Democracy Party to a sweeping general election victory yesterday.
Mr Karamanlis (47), and US-educated lawyer and the nephew of a former prime minister of Greece, takes power just five months before the August Olympic Games, a massive security and logistical operation for which preparations are behind schedule.
With 97 per cent of votes counted, the conservatives were heading for 165 seats in the 300-member parliament and 45.5 per cent of the vote.
In the 2000 election, the Pan Hellenic Socialist Movement won 158 seats and New Democracy, under Mr Karamanlis, won 125 seats.
"We must make the best efforts so the Olympic Games are the best and safest ever held. It is a great opportunity for Greece to show its modern face," he told cheering supporters.
He also faces a major foreign policy challenge in brokering a deal with Turkey to help reunite Greek and Turkish Cypriots before the island joins the EU in May.