Syriza, ANEL Receive 155 Seats in Greek Parliament out of 300

As those measures are felt, I can imagine resentment building toward the prime minister, especially after reports that his eldest son was enrolled at one of Greece’s most prestigious and expensive private schools and that Tsipras and his wife Peristera flew off to a summer holiday at a luxurious villa owned by shipowner Athanasios Martinos while the Greek people suffered.

Panos Kammenos, head of the small right-wing Independent Greeks party who was Tsipras’ junior coalition partner in a short-lived seven-month government, was at 3.7 percent and 10 seats in parliament.

With around 90 percent of votes counted, Syriza looked set to secure close to an absolute majority in the country’s 300-seat parliament, with a smaller nationalist party expected to join forces and push it over the top.

Here & Now’s Peter O’Dowd speaks with the BBC’s Athens correspondent Richard Galpin on the situation in Greece. The Greek Communist Party (KKE) made no gains, retaining its 15 seats in the new Parliament.

If Tsipras can’t maintain his balancing act of softening the blow on ordinary Greeks while at the same time trying to implement the tough economic measures demanded by European Union creditors, there could be more trouble in the near future. “From Monday, we are ready to collaborate to implement the program to reform the Greek economy”, he said. However, voter turnout was dismally low, with only 56 percent of those eligible casting their ballots, despite voting being compulsory in Greece. The government will now have the mandate to carry out those reforms.

“Indeed it was the coalition government of Syriza that signed the (bailout plan)”.

In keeping with the aptitude for shrewd political maneuvering he has demonstrated over the past year , Syriza’s leader, Alexis Tsipras, has again defied predictions and secured a second mandate to lead a government. However, many have noted that is it not smooth sailing for Greece just yet.

“He (Tsipras) clearly has a better message to offer and a fresher profile than his opponents”.

At 41, Tsipras now dominates Greek politics, having seen off both the main, center-right opposition and his own party rebels despite a sharp policy U-turn that kept the country in the eurozone but ditched the anti-austerity platform which first swept him to power in January.

“After years of nearly unprecedented crisis, the vast majority of Greeks has once again endorsed parties that are promising to keep the country in the euro even if that implies thorough and painful reforms”, he said.

‘I want to repeat what Tsipras said, which is that a government will be formed within three days, ‘ the source told Reuters.

“The election result appears to be forming comprehensively with Syriza and Mr. Tsipras coming first”, Meimarakis said.

Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas said Greece’s creditors – the EU, the European Central Bank and the worldwide Monetary Fund – would meet over the next few months to conduct a review aimed at releasing new funds under the bailout deal.

Among the challenges facing Mr Tsipras will be satisfying global creditors that Greece is meeting the terms of the latest bailout package worth up to €86bn ($97bn, £61bn).

Led by Panagiotis Lafazanis, who served in the Syriza government as the minister responsible for industrial, environmental and energy policy, Popular Unity failed dismally-and justifiably-in its campaign to portray itself as the champion of Syriza’s original anti-austerity agenda. Voters who supported Golden Dawn – the only party to see its electoral popularity increase – were probably influenced by the migrant crisis.

It must also oversee a critical bank recapitalization program, without which depositors with over 100,000 euros (£73,000) in their accounts will be forced to contribute.