Greek Syriza party’s far-left faction breaks away as new group

Mr Tsipras had delayed a decision on whether to call a new election until after Greece received its first instalment from the new bailout and made a debt repayment to the European Central Bank; it did both on Thursday.

The split – which cost Tsipras 25 lawmakers or a sixth of Syriza’s parliamentary group – came a day after he abruptly resigned to force early elections in a bid to cement his grip on power and deal with the growing rebellion in the party’s ranks.

On Thursday, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who heads the Eurogroup of euro zone finance ministers, said he hoped Tsipras’ resignation and new elections would not delay or derail the bailout package Athens has negotiated with its creditors. “We do not want to govern against the popular will”, he said, adding that Tspiras and his government were “confident in rightness of our policies and the maturity of the Greek electorate”.

If New Democracy head Vangelis Meimarakis fails to form a government, the chance will be given to Lafazanis’ new party, and then the far-right Golden Dawn party. About one in four Syriza politicians refused to back the bailout’s ratification in parliament last week, which was only approved with backing from opposition parties.

The European Commission said it was not anxious about the implementation of the Greek bailout programme, under which Athens must carry out economic reforms in return for aid. Neither EconoTimes nor its third party suppliers shall be liable for any errors, omissions or delays in content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.

Some analysts took the early election news as an indication that Greece would struggle to implement the terms of its latest bailout.

Alexis Tsipras’s move came after he agreed to tough conditions laid down by Greece’s creditors.

“Tsipras firmly maintains the position of the defense of national interests and belongs to the Euro-skeptics, and Euro-skeptic sentiments tend to grow in the Greek community and a number of other EU countries”, the Federation Council member said. Syriza is by far the most popular party, but the fractured nature of Greek politics means it does not have enough support to govern without a coalition partner. “Regardless the election, Greece’s problems will not disappear anywhere”, he told Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. New elections are likely to be held on Sept 20, so the country faces at least a month of acute uncertainty.

He said he had exhausted the mandate which the public gave him in January and suggested he would stand at next month’s general elections as a more moderate candidate, moving away from the staunchly leftist platform with which he won earlier in the year.

Mr. Tsipras said he would seek the Greek people’s approval to continue his government’s programe.