Confirmed coalition partners, the Independent Greeks, are set to receive 10 seats, putting the Syriza-led government once again at the helm of the struggling Mediterranean economy with a 155-seat majority.
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Kammenos joined him on stage to rapturous applause from the crowd.
Jubilant supporters of Alexis Tsipras’ left-wing Syriza party cheered, waved party flags and danced after the party comfortably won Greece’s third national vote this year despite a party rebellion over his acceptance of a painful third worldwide bailout. Alexis Tsipras, left, celebrates after profitable the general election in Athens, Greece, on Sunday.
“The Greek people have given us a clear mandate to discard whatever kept us stuck in the past”, he said.
Tsipras was voted into office in January promising to halt austerity measures imposed by Europe, which most Greeks blame for worsening one of the deepest depressions of any industrialised country in modern times.
A commentator on a Greek news channel Skai was discussing with her colleagues the lowest voter turnout in Greece since written records have been kept for election- Only 55% of eligible voters went to the polls on September 20th to elect their next prime minister.
Their leader, Evangelos Meimarakis, soon congratulated Syriza on its victory, while other conservative leaders did not hesitate to speak of a relay in the leadership of the formation and a call to an extraordinary congress.
Tsipras said: “I feel vindicated because the Greek people gave us a clear mandate to continue our struggle, inside and outside the country, to lift our pride”.
The new government has little time to waste.
With nine parties hoping to enter parliament, whoever wins is unlikely to secure an outright majority and may need to form a coalition.
“I’m sorry but Syriza doesn’t exist any more”.
Creditors are expected to review progress of reforms as part of the bailout next month, while the government will also have to draft the 2016 state budget. Polling between 3.5% and 4%, he will get close to 7% of the vote – up from 1.79% in January.
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“The party’s improved result was viewed with dismay by mainstream politicians, especially as it came after last week’s public admission by its leader, Nikos Michaloliakos, on a radio show that his party was “politically responsible” but not “criminally responsible” for the murder of Pavlos Fyssas”.
