“After years of almost unprecedented crisis, the vast majority of Greeks are endorsing parties that are promising to keep the country in the euro even if that implies thorough and painful reforms”, said Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Germany’s Berenberg Bank.
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Tsipras’s first task after forming a government will be to persuade European Union lenders that enough agreed steps have been made to ensure the next payment.
“I think that the most important (thing) is that we are now able to design a long-term plan”, Tsipras told Independent Greeks head Panos Kammenos during a meeting Monday to discuss the new government makeup.
Creditors are due to review the progress of the programme in October. By doing so, Tsipras effectively abandoned his previous pledge to bring the austerity that Greece has endured for years to an end.
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. A small crowd watched an outdoor TV screen in the central Syntagma Square in Athens on Sunday night, normally the scene of raucous celebrations.
Some lost their seats, while others are celebrating shock wins.
“I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this great victory, a clear victory, a victory of the people”, Mr Tsipras said. “We have a rescue program and we have to implement it. The question was who would do it most fairly”.
ND won 28 percent of the votes, securing 75 seats; one less than in the January election.
Tsipras triggered the snap election when he resigned in mid-August after passing a slew of hard reform measures required for fresh financing from global creditors through parliament by relying on the opposition.
At the same time, the departures helped turn Tsipras into a more palatable figure for financial markets.
The country has seen six governments and four parliamentary elections since 2009.
With 90% of votes tallied his Syriza party had received 35.5% of the vote delivering 145 seats in the 300-strong parliament, and was preparing to join centre-right politicians in coalition.
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Last month some commentators were saying that he would be rocked by an acrimonious split in Syriza, with anti-bailout zealots abandoning the party.
