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| Syriza forms Greek government: what we know so far | Syriza forms Greek government: what we know so far |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| • Greece has a new government. Following Sunday’s nationwide ballot, the populist leftwing party Syriza won 149 seats in the 300-seat Greek parliament on a 36.3% share of the vote. This is the first time since the end of dictatorial government in the 1970s that the country has been ruled by a party other than New Democracy or Pasok, who have been left with 74 seats and 13 seats respectively. In order to form a working majority, Syriza has agreed to work with the populist rightwing party Independent Greeks, who have 13 seats. | • Greece has a new government. Following Sunday’s nationwide ballot, the populist leftwing party Syriza won 149 seats in the 300-seat Greek parliament on a 36.3% share of the vote. This is the first time since the end of dictatorial government in the 1970s that the country has been ruled by a party other than New Democracy or Pasok, who have been left with 74 seats and 13 seats respectively. In order to form a working majority, Syriza has agreed to work with the populist rightwing party Independent Greeks, who have 13 seats. |
| • Tsipras has been sworn in at a ceremony on Monday afternoon. The 40-year-old former Communist party youth activist, student leader and firebrand, becomes Greece’s youngest prime minister. He has also broken with tradition by not being sworn in by the head of Greece’s orthodox church, Archbishop Ieronymos. A self-described atheist, Tsipras, who also refused a religious marriage ceremony with his long-time partner, Betty, made a courtesy call to the cleric at 2.30pm. | |
| • His first act as prime minister was to lay flowers at the National Resistance Memorial at Kaisariani, which commemorates 200 Greeks who were killed by Nazis there in the second world war. The highly symbolic act was interpreted by Greek TV commentators as “another up yours to the Germans”. | |
| • Amid dire economic circumstances, Syriza is expected to break with the programme of punishing austerity that previous Greek governments agreed to as a condition of taking €240bn (£180bn) of bailout money. Just to highlight how band things are, since 2008 the economy has shrunk by a quarter, unemployment stands at 25% (youth unemployment at 50%) and Athens’ debts now stand at €318bn –175% of GDP. Tsipras plans to go to Europe to seek debt forgiveness. If negotiations go badly the country may be eventually forced to depart from the euro – a moved dubbed the “Grexit”. | • Amid dire economic circumstances, Syriza is expected to break with the programme of punishing austerity that previous Greek governments agreed to as a condition of taking €240bn (£180bn) of bailout money. Just to highlight how band things are, since 2008 the economy has shrunk by a quarter, unemployment stands at 25% (youth unemployment at 50%) and Athens’ debts now stand at €318bn –175% of GDP. Tsipras plans to go to Europe to seek debt forgiveness. If negotiations go badly the country may be eventually forced to depart from the euro – a moved dubbed the “Grexit”. |
| • Financial markets have not been shaken by events. The Athens stock markets is down just 2%, after shedding 5% earlier. The FTSE 100 has lost 30 points, while the euro is actually slightly higher today at $1.1236. | • Financial markets have not been shaken by events. The Athens stock markets is down just 2%, after shedding 5% earlier. The FTSE 100 has lost 30 points, while the euro is actually slightly higher today at $1.1236. |
| Related: Greece election: Syriza forms coalition with Independent Greeks – live updates | Related: Greece election: Syriza forms coalition with Independent Greeks – live updates |
| • Syriza MP Yanis Varoufakis, who has been touted as the next finance minister, insisted that Greece would stick with the euro: “We who are in the eurozone must not toy with loose or fast talk about Grexit or fragmentation. If that happens, disruptive forces would be unleashed.” | • Syriza MP Yanis Varoufakis, who has been touted as the next finance minister, insisted that Greece would stick with the euro: “We who are in the eurozone must not toy with loose or fast talk about Grexit or fragmentation. If that happens, disruptive forces would be unleashed.” |
| • European reaction is coming in. In France, Marine Le Pen, who heads the far-right National Front and wants to ditch the euro, hailed “the start of the trial of euro-austerity” and expressed delight at the “giant democratic slap in the face by the Greek people to the European Union”. Similarly, but from the other side of the political wing, the Socialist party’s Jean-Christophe Cambadélis acknowledged “a tidal wave against austerity”. | • European reaction is coming in. In France, Marine Le Pen, who heads the far-right National Front and wants to ditch the euro, hailed “the start of the trial of euro-austerity” and expressed delight at the “giant democratic slap in the face by the Greek people to the European Union”. Similarly, but from the other side of the political wing, the Socialist party’s Jean-Christophe Cambadélis acknowledged “a tidal wave against austerity”. |
| Germany’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert said his country respected the results and issued other positive noises. | Germany’s spokesperson Steffen Seibert said his country respected the results and issued other positive noises. |
| Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said Greece could not be given special treatment over its debts. “There are internal eurozone rules to be respected. We cannot make special categories for such or such country.” | Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund, said Greece could not be given special treatment over its debts. “There are internal eurozone rules to be respected. We cannot make special categories for such or such country.” |
| Further reading | Further reading |
| • Profile of the Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras | • Profile of the Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras |
| • Background briefing around the election issues | • Background briefing around the election issues |
| • What Syriza supporters are thinking | • What Syriza supporters are thinking |
| • Paul Mason: a victory for young, angry, networked activists against corrupt elites | • Paul Mason: a victory for young, angry, networked activists against corrupt elites |
| • Owen Jones: this is what the politics of hope looks like | • Owen Jones: this is what the politics of hope looks like |