Global Courant
ATHENS
Greece’s Alexis Tsipras announced on Thursday that he is stepping down as leader of the left-wing main opposition SYRIZA party, following Sunday’s major electoral defeat.
“The (25 June) election ended a historic cycle. Now is the time to collectively open the next cycle,” he said.
Tsipras said he will lead the party until a new party congress is held, where a new leadership will be elected.
The former Greek prime minister suggested that the party must face its own weakness, which led to its massive defeat in the elections.
“I understand the need for a new wave of SYRIZA and have decided to step aside to pass. “I have decided to propose to immediately refer to the relevant procedures for the election of a new leader, of which I will of course not be a candidate,” Tsipras said.
He added: “The new SYRIZA is an urgent priority. It’s about the quality of our democracy, our front against the far right and fascism.”
June 25 election
In Sunday’s general elections, the country’s most right-wing parliament since 1974, conservative New Democracy won 40.55% of the vote, gaining 158 of the 300 seats in parliament.
Although the left-wing SYRIZA, led by Tsipras, remained the second main opposition party with 17.84% of the vote and 48 deputies, the results were confirmed by its leaders that the party suffered a major defeat.
The social democratic party PASOK came in third with 11.85% of the vote and secured 32 seats in parliament.
The Communist Party of Greece (KKE), which has a strong presence in some of the major unions and working-class neighborhoods in Athens and the port city of Piraeus, as well as in some Aegean islands such as Ikaria, won with 7.69% of the vote. 20 seats.
The Spartans party, openly supported by the imprisoned MP of the banned neo-Nazi Golden Dawn, Ilias Kasidiaris, won 4.68% of the vote and entered the parliament for the first time with 12 seats.
In addition, the far-right, populist Greek Solution party and the far-right, religious Niki (Victory) party were the other parties that passed the 3% electoral threshold with 4.45% and 3.70%, respectively, and entered the parliament. They received 12 and 10 parliamentary seats, respectively.
Meanwhile, the Sailing for Freedom Party, founded by former Speaker of Parliament Zoe Constantopoulou, won eight seats with 3.17 percent, while MeRA25, led by Tsipras’ former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis, failed to enter the parliament with 2.46 percent.
The country’s 150,000-strong Turkish minority will be represented by four deputies, two from the SYRIZA and two from the PASOK lists.
Turnout in Sunday’s election was only 52.82%, up from 61.1% in May.
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