The left-wing Syriza party, led by Alexis Tsipras, has won Greece’s second general election of 2015. It was a narrow win with a historically low turnout, thereby indicating the current disheartened sentiment of the Greek people.
According to Reuters, with 99.5 percent of the votes counted, Syriza had secured 35.5 percent, followed by right-wingers New Democracy with 28.1 percent of the vote. While the breakaway Popular Unity party, formed by dissidents of Syriza, failed to break the three percent vote minimum needed to enter parliament.
Tsipras had a difficult challenge to convince the public that he should be re-elected given his turbulent time in office
this year
The 49 percent abstention rate, which is the highest since the fall of the military dictatorship in 1974, certainly helped to secure Syriza’s clear win, yet was not enough to secure a single-party regime. As such, a coalition government is being formed with Syriza’s former coalition partners, the Independent Greeks party.
In Tsipras’ victory speech, he spoke of having a clear mandate to rid the government of corruption and to protect those most vulnerable in Greece today. His first task as re-elected Prime Minister will be to assure European lenders that enough steps are being taken to comply with the €86bn bailout deal agreed in August so as to assure the next payment in received. The deal is due to be reviewed in October.
Tsipras had a difficult challenge to convince the public that he should be re-elected given his turbulent time in office this year. When Syriza first came to power in January, the prime minister pledged to remove austerity measures – yet around seven months later, the incumbent government accepted a new bailout with terms that were even harsher than before. After accepting the overhaul of the country’s pension scheme and raising taxes, Tsipras then resigned from his post.
It is expected that Syriza’s re-election will lead to more stability in the government, particularly as hard-left members are no longer in the party. There is also less likelihood of public protests on the streets. Tsipras’ victory despite his broken promises enables Syriza to swiftly proceed with the austerity measures needed for Greece to comply with bailout agreements and find its way back towards the path to recovery. It will be a complex process that will take some time, yet the people have again spoken of their understanding of the steps needed for long awaited economic and political stability in Greece.
