Syriza had won 149 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament in the last election in January.
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Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem told Reuters that he hopes the new elections would not delay or derail the bailout package which Athens has negotiated with its creditors. His Syriza party is predicted to be returned at the fresh election, reportedly scheduled for September 20.
Tsipras said he had no choice in order to keep Greece within the eurozone, which is what most Greeks want.
The opposition has few chances of uniting and forming a government, meaning that after more than five years of a worsening financial crisis, Greece is headed for its fifth national election in six years.
“The political mandate of the 25 January elections has exhausted its limits and now the Greek people have to have their say”, he said.
Here is a look at what comes next for Greece and what the elections mean for the bailout, the 86 billion euro ($95 billion) package of loans that is keeping the country solvent and part of Europe’s joint currency, the euro. Mr Tsipras was elected eight months ago on a pledge of standing up to creditors and ending what many Greeks regard as years of humiliating treatment. But he was forced to move quickly after almost a third of Syriza lawmakers refused to back the programme in parliament last week, robbing him of his majority. However, his endorsement of the bailout, namely in the aftermath of a contradictory “Oxi” campaign just one month ago has fractured the political leadership in Greece, leaving his Syriza party searching for answers and ultimately new leadership.
President Prokopis Pavlopoulos was meeting the head of conservative New Democracy party Friday, Evangelos Meimarakis, and ask him to try to form a government.
Shortly before Tsipras’ announcement, European leaders agreed to send Greece its first rush of money to help pay off debt – $14.5 billion.
Complicating matters, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis published a detailed blog post on Monday in which he trashed the recent bailout agreement, calling it a “humiliating capitulation” that will push Greece deeper into recession, the Greek Herald reports.
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The new left-wing “Popular Unity” party would be the third-largest in the Greek 300-seat legislature, although it may not have long to enjoy the prominent position. Only 33% supported the new rescue plan, compared with 48% at the previous poll in July.
