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PoliticsGreece

Greece: Syriza leader Tsipras resigns after major defeat

June 29, 2023

After suffering his fifth straight election defeat, the former Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has said he will not be running in upcoming votes.

Alexis Tsipras greets supporters as he heads to vote in Athens
Tsipras served as the Greek prime minister between 2015 and 2019Image: Michael Varaklas/AP Photo/picture alliance

Alexis Tsipras annoucned Thursday he was stepping down as head of the Syriza party following a disastrous election defeat earlier this month.

"The time has come to start a new cycle," Tsipras said in a televised address from Athens. "The negative result can — and must — become the beginning of this cycle."

Leftist politician Tsipras was once one of Greece's youngest-ever prime ministers, leading the country during a period of ravaging austerity.

He said he will call "elections within Syriza for a new leader, in which I will not be a candidate."

Syriza was only able to gain around 18% of the ballots in the second round of voting, which saw the ruling center-right New Democracy party keep its majority in parliament, despite facing a number of scandals.

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What is Tsipras' legacy?

The 48-year-old Tsipras held the office of prime minister from 2015 to 2019, a period that was marked mostly by the fallout of the financial crisis and the question of whether Greece would remain in the eurozone.

Tsipras had a fraught relationship with Germany due to disputes over the imposition of austerity measures to secure international bailouts.

Syriza had come to power on an anti-austerity pledge. However, under pressure from Germany and other wealthy EU countries, Tsipras' government ended up overseeing some of the deepest austerity measures in Europe — with his party plagued by resignations from senior members who opposed the new course.

After 15 years at the helm, Tsipras is the longest-serving leader in Syriza's history. He will stay on as leader of the party until a successor is found.

"This difficult journey had compromises, and difficult decisions, and injuries and attrition, but it was a journey that left a mark on history," Tsipras said during his resignation announcement.

ab/dj (Reuters, AP)

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