Factions like “53+’ notwithstanding, Mr Tsipras” re-election on Sunday made his party the dominant force in Greece with his harshest hard-left rebels failing to make it into parliament.
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Syriza leader and victor of Greek general election Alexis Tsipras signs documents as he was sworn in as prime minister during a ceremony at the presidential palace in Athens, yesterday evening. “His first cabinet was marked by Syriza’s big appointments, such as Yanis Varoufakis, which had particularly bad results”.
“Tsipras managed to convince a large part of the electorate that he was a tougher negotiator than previous governments”, said Mujtaba Rahman, of political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.
With more than 99.7 percent of Sunday’s votes counted, Tsipras’ SYRIZA had 35.5 percent, while the center-right New Democracy trailed with 28.1 percent. His vote held up very well, retaining 145 of his original 149 seats.
Their administration, to be announced on Tuesday, will have a narrow majority of 155 seats in the 300-member legislature.
In particular, he pointed to deepening cooperation and stimulating the economic, energy, infrastructure and cultural-educational ties between Bulgaria and Greece. That would leave it unable to pay 3.2 billion euros ($3.8 billion) it owes to the worldwide Monetary Fund later this year. Although voters still seem to prefer Tsipras to other potential party leaders, he did agree to an austerity-laden bailout package.
Mr Tsipras has managed to cobble together some sort of mandate for the austerity measures and economic reforms that will be needed for the third worldwide bailout.
What, however, is now amply clear is that the Greeks have squarely rejected the old political system in the country, and have placed their complete trust in Tsipras, whether he goes one way or another.
The reforms are essential to the governance of Greece as a functioning country, and to its continued membership in the eurozone and the European Union. European Parliament head Martin Schulz told a French radio station, “I called him a second time to ask him why he was continuing a coalition with this odd , far-right party”. Without it, the country may once again find itself unable to pay its bills in the long term.
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Meanwhile, Greece’s economy remains in a fragile state after the chaos of the summer.
