Greek prime minister resigns
As Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced his resignation late last week, he scheduled elections for September 20.
However, hardliners in Tsipras’ radical left Syriza party said Friday they meant to split from the party and form their own separate group in Parliament. New elections are likely to be held on Sept 20, so the country faces at least a month of acute uncertainty.
Greece’s European creditors did not appear dismayed by Mr. Tsipras’ move, which was widely expected.
“The programme was agreed with the Greek government, and that runs on for three years. It sets the course for the next three years and nothing has changed on that”.
A German Finance Ministry spokesman confirmed that any delay in Greek reforms during an election campaign will automatically lead to a delay in bailout payments.
He said Greek people must decide “whether we made the right choice”.
Annika Breidthardt, spokeswoman for the European Union’s Executive Commission, took to Twitter after the announcement. Any new government will be expected to adhere to the agreed loan repayment plan.
On Friday, President Prokopis Pavlopoulos met conservative New Democracy party head Evangelos Meimarakis and asked him to try to form a government.
Popular Unity party will become the third largest in parliament.
But right-wing opposition leader Vangelis Meimarakis called Tsipras a “sneaky little liar” during a Thursday news conference.
If they fail, the president then names a caretaker administration, usually under a senior judge, to hold early elections.
“It will have as a goal to cancel the previous two bailout agreements and the third bailout agreement that the current government voted for, and to replace them with a policy of growth”, he said.
In last Friday’s vote that approved the most recent bailout, the Prime Minister effectively lost his parliamentary majority. “Regardless of elections, reforms can now be implemented”.
You’ll notice he’s trying to get the election over with as quickly as possible-perhaps because he fears the political fallout that will come from implementing the austerity measures demanded by the worldwide community in exchange for the new financial bailout.
One day after money began flowing from Greece’s third bailout program, a much-needed period of political and economic certainty remained as elusive as ever, drawing concerned calls from the euro zone that Athens must stick to commitments given under the rescue deal.
Tsipras insists he had to accept the unpalatable bailout terms to keep Greece in the euro, the EU’s common currency.