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| Syriza forms government with rightwing Independent Greeks party | Syriza forms government with rightwing Independent Greeks party |
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| Greece is headed into a new era of anti-austerity as the radical leftist Syriza successfully formed a government with the Independent Greeks party after falling agonisingly short of an outright majority in Sunday’s landmark elections. | Greece is headed into a new era of anti-austerity as the radical leftist Syriza successfully formed a government with the Independent Greeks party after falling agonisingly short of an outright majority in Sunday’s landmark elections. |
| “I want to say, simply, that from this moment, there is a government,” the Independent Greeks leader, Panos Kammenos, told reporters after emerging from a meeting at Syriza’s headquarters. | “I want to say, simply, that from this moment, there is a government,” the Independent Greeks leader, Panos Kammenos, told reporters after emerging from a meeting at Syriza’s headquarters. |
| “The Independent Greeks party will give a vote of confidence to the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras. The prime minister will go to the president and … the cabinet makeup will be announced by the prime minister. The aim for all Greeks is to embark on a new day, with full sovereignty.” | “The Independent Greeks party will give a vote of confidence to the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras. The prime minister will go to the president and … the cabinet makeup will be announced by the prime minister. The aim for all Greeks is to embark on a new day, with full sovereignty.” |
| The small, populist, rightwing Independent Greeks agree with Syriza on the need to cancel austerity, but disagree on many key social issues such as immigration, and it had been expected that coalition negotiations would be difficult. In the end they lasted less than an hour. | The small, populist, rightwing Independent Greeks agree with Syriza on the need to cancel austerity, but disagree on many key social issues such as immigration, and it had been expected that coalition negotiations would be difficult. In the end they lasted less than an hour. |
| Syriza just missed out on the 151 MPs it needed to govern alone, winning 149 seats on a 36.3% share of the vote. Independent Greeks won 13 seats. The incumbent centre-right New Democracy party of the outgoing prime minister, Antonis Samaras, were routed, collapsing to 76 seats in the 300-seat parliament. | Syriza just missed out on the 151 MPs it needed to govern alone, winning 149 seats on a 36.3% share of the vote. Independent Greeks won 13 seats. The incumbent centre-right New Democracy party of the outgoing prime minister, Antonis Samaras, were routed, collapsing to 76 seats in the 300-seat parliament. |
| The extreme-right, Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn, several of whose MPs are currently in jail awaiting trial on charges of extortion, weapons possession and operating anti-immigrant hit squads, ended up as the country’s third largest party with 6.28% of the vote and 17 seats. | The extreme-right, Nazi-inspired Golden Dawn, several of whose MPs are currently in jail awaiting trial on charges of extortion, weapons possession and operating anti-immigrant hit squads, ended up as the country’s third largest party with 6.28% of the vote and 17 seats. |
| Tsipras, 40, is set to become Greece’s youngest prime minister. He will head the eurozone’s first government to openly oppose the draconian bailout conditions imposed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, and also wants a write-off of at least half Greece’s mammoth €318bn (£238bn) debt mountain. | Tsipras, 40, is set to become Greece’s youngest prime minister. He will head the eurozone’s first government to openly oppose the draconian bailout conditions imposed by the European Union and International Monetary Fund, and also wants a write-off of at least half Greece’s mammoth €318bn (£238bn) debt mountain. |
| The landmark election result, the first time since the 1970s that neither the centre-left Pasok nor the conservative New Democracy have been returned to power, could set Athens on course for an imminent collision with international lenders, EU institutions and with Berlin, where the chancellor, Angela Merkel, has so far steadfastly refused to let up on demands for draconian belt-tightening and structural reforms by the bloc’s weaker economies. | |
| Syriza’s financial planning official, Giorgos Stathakis, said the new government had no plans to meet with negotiators from the “troika” of the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund, and would instead seek talks directly with governments. | |
| Hours after Syriza’s victory, ECB executive board member Benoit Coeure said Greece had to pay its debts and warned Tsipras to play by the “European rules of the game”. | |
| “There is no room for unilateral action in Europe that doesn’t exclude a discussion, for example, on the rescheduling of this debt,” Coeure told Europe 1 radio. | |
| Europe’s finance ministers were scheduled to meet on Monday for their first chance to discuss Syriza’s sweeping victory. The euro briefly sank to an 11-year low against the dollar and stock markets fell amid fears that Greece’s massive €240bn bailout could be in doubt and the battered country may be forced out of the eurozone. | Europe’s finance ministers were scheduled to meet on Monday for their first chance to discuss Syriza’s sweeping victory. The euro briefly sank to an 11-year low against the dollar and stock markets fell amid fears that Greece’s massive €240bn bailout could be in doubt and the battered country may be forced out of the eurozone. |
| “Greece leaves behind catastrophic austerity, it leaves behind fear and authoritarianism, it leaves behind five years of humiliation and suffering,” Tsipras told thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters gathered in Klafthmonos Square in central Athens on Sunday night. | “Greece leaves behind catastrophic austerity, it leaves behind fear and authoritarianism, it leaves behind five years of humiliation and suffering,” Tsipras told thousands of cheering, flag-waving supporters gathered in Klafthmonos Square in central Athens on Sunday night. |
| Tsipras, born into a middle-class Athens family and trained as a civil engineer, reiterated his intention to renegotiate the bailout terms, but hinted that he may not quite be as forceful in government as during his campaign, when he pledged to light an “anti-austerity blaze” across Europe. | Tsipras, born into a middle-class Athens family and trained as a civil engineer, reiterated his intention to renegotiate the bailout terms, but hinted that he may not quite be as forceful in government as during his campaign, when he pledged to light an “anti-austerity blaze” across Europe. |
| “The new Greek government will be ready to cooperate and negotiate for the first time with our peers a just, mutually beneficial and viable solution,” he promised. | “The new Greek government will be ready to cooperate and negotiate for the first time with our peers a just, mutually beneficial and viable solution,” he promised. |
| Tsipras’s fierce anti-austerity, anti-bailout message has found an enthusiastic audience across a visibly strung-out and worn-down country. Since 2009, Greece’s GDP has plummeted by a quarter, its household income by more than a third, and joblessness has trebled, to 26%. | Tsipras’s fierce anti-austerity, anti-bailout message has found an enthusiastic audience across a visibly strung-out and worn-down country. Since 2009, Greece’s GDP has plummeted by a quarter, its household income by more than a third, and joblessness has trebled, to 26%. |
| Thousands of supporters turned out to watch Tsipras speak in central Athens after his opponents conceded. “The Greek people have written history,” he said, to cheers. “Greece is leaving behind catastrophic austerity, fear and autocratic government.” | |
| Outside the party’s campaign tent in central Athens, supporters hugged each other and danced in celebration. “It’s like we’ve been born again and finally feel some hope,” said Litsa Zarkada, a fired government cleaning worker. “We were thrown into the street just before we could take our pension. We have been through so much.” | |
| Swingeing spending cuts and soaring unemployment have seen around 3.1 million people, or a third of the population, lose their social security and health insurance. Almost third of Greece’s population now lives below the poverty line, while 18% are unable to afford basic food needs. | Swingeing spending cuts and soaring unemployment have seen around 3.1 million people, or a third of the population, lose their social security and health insurance. Almost third of Greece’s population now lives below the poverty line, while 18% are unable to afford basic food needs. |
| The party’s victory could encourage other radical anti-austerity parties in southern Europe, including Spain’s Podemos, whose leader Pablo Iglesias told a rally in Valencia: “Hope is coming, fear is fleeing. Syriza, Podemos, we will win.” | The party’s victory could encourage other radical anti-austerity parties in southern Europe, including Spain’s Podemos, whose leader Pablo Iglesias told a rally in Valencia: “Hope is coming, fear is fleeing. Syriza, Podemos, we will win.” |
| The British prime minister, David Cameron, however, said Syriza’s unexpectedly wide margin of victory would “increase economic uncertainty across Europe”, adding: “That’s why the UK must stick to our plan, delivering security at home.” | The British prime minister, David Cameron, however, said Syriza’s unexpectedly wide margin of victory would “increase economic uncertainty across Europe”, adding: “That’s why the UK must stick to our plan, delivering security at home.” |
| The chancellor, George Osborne, went further, saying that Syriza’s promises will be “very difficult to deliver and incompatible with what the eurozone currently demands of its members”. | The chancellor, George Osborne, went further, saying that Syriza’s promises will be “very difficult to deliver and incompatible with what the eurozone currently demands of its members”. |