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| Alexis Tsipras to step down as Syriza leader after Greek election rout | Alexis Tsipras to step down as Syriza leader after Greek election rout |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Leftwing opposition leader who was prime minister during eurozone crisis says ‘this is a painful decision’ | |
| Greece’s leftwing opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, has announced he is to step down after a crushing election defeat. | Greece’s leftwing opposition leader, Alexis Tsipras, has announced he is to step down after a crushing election defeat. |
| Tsipras served as Greece’s prime minister from 2015 to 2019 during politically tumultuous years as the country struggled to remain in the eurozone and end a series of international bailouts. | |
| In Sunday’s general election, Tsipras’s leftwing Syriza party received just under 18% of the vote – losing almost half its support over the past four years – while the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s winning New Democracy party topped 40%. | In Sunday’s general election, Tsipras’s leftwing Syriza party received just under 18% of the vote – losing almost half its support over the past four years – while the prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s winning New Democracy party topped 40%. |
| “The party must take difficult and courageous decisions, which are called upon to serve a new vision. This obviously concerns me too,” Tsipras said in a televised address. “I have therefore decided to propose the election of a new leadership by the members of the party, as stipulated in the party statutes, with immediate recourse. Of course I will not be a candidate. I make no secret of the fact that this is a painful decision.” | “The party must take difficult and courageous decisions, which are called upon to serve a new vision. This obviously concerns me too,” Tsipras said in a televised address. “I have therefore decided to propose the election of a new leadership by the members of the party, as stipulated in the party statutes, with immediate recourse. Of course I will not be a candidate. I make no secret of the fact that this is a painful decision.” |
| Tsipras, 48, who has led the party since 2012, is expected to stay on as leader until his successor is elected by the membership. No prominent member of the party has publicly called on Tsipras to step down after the election defeat, though Euclid Tsakalotos, a former Syriza finance minister, had urged him to reflect on the results and “take the necessary actions”. | |
| Effie Achtsioglou, a former social security minister, has received support from a section of the party to seek a leadership role but has not publicly discussed her plans. Commentators blamed Syriza’s poor election result on the party’s largely negative campaign, the resurgence of the traditionally strong socialist party, Pasok, and the appearance of splinter parties led by former Tsipras allies. | |
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| Largely rooted in fierce political confrontations during the 2010-18 international bailouts, Syriza and the socialists have been unable reach any agreement on potential collaboration despite support from some senior members in both parties. | Largely rooted in fierce political confrontations during the 2010-18 international bailouts, Syriza and the socialists have been unable reach any agreement on potential collaboration despite support from some senior members in both parties. |