Tsipras resigned on Thursday, going on the offensive to defend the tough terms he accepted in the 86-billion-euro ($96 billion) rescue package which had triggered a rebellion in his radical-left Syriza party.
Advertisement
“Of course the government, as well as Greece’s other European partners, expects the agreements that are in this programme to be implemented”, he said.
“I wish to be fully frank with you”.
“People may have been able to predict the defeat of Syriza, but one thing is for sure: the Greek people will suffer the most”, Chris Spannos, a New Internationalist editor, told teleSUR in an interview following Tsipras’ resignation.
“I feel the deep ethical and political responsibility to put to your judgment all I have done – successes and failures”, he said.
Greek banking is still restricted under capital controls imposed in late June to stem a bank run sparked after Tsipras called a referendum on creditor proposals for reforms following a breakdown in bailout negotiations.
But the deal came with strict terms for more belt-tightening.
The European Union’s executive Commission said it “takes note” of the election announcement.
A tumultuous summer in Greece could lead to an uncertain autumn as voters may have to decide who would best navigate the next phase of the country’s financial struggle.
Tsipras is highly popular and is expected to win the election, which will likely be held next month. “Eurozone dictatorship” Syriza won 149 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament in the last election in January.
But his ministers have openly debated the pros and cons of an early election – which would be the third in as many years – following the party split.
The first is that dozens of Tsipras’ governing left-wing Syriza party lawmakers voted against the government on the bailout deal.
Meanwhile opposition head Evangelos Meimarakis will have a chance to form a new government following Tsipras’ surprise resignation, according to an email from the president’s office sent early Friday.
The conservative New Democracy party now has the mandate, which would pass to the next group if it was unsuccessful in its effort.
Meimarakis took aim at Tsipras.
This would make Greece’s reform plans “a bit more credible”.
Tsipras nevertheless remains popular among his supporters for trying to stand up to the foreign creditors and with the opposition in disarray, he is widely expected to return to power.
Advertisement
The constitution stipulates that the head of the next-largest party gets a three-day window to form a government after the premier resigns. No polls have been published since then due to the holiday season.
