The 'Syriza' Party Wins Again in Greek Parliamentary Elections

Initial results from the Greek parliamentary elections indicate that the leftist 'Syriza' party, led by Alexis Tsipras, has won with 35.5% of the votes. In contrast, the conservative 'New Democracy' party, led by Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will secure 28% of the votes. Following the preliminary results, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the leader of 'New Democracy' and the main rival of 'Syriza', acknowledged his party's defeat and congratulated the winner. During the election debates, Mitsotakis had strongly warned against Tsipras's re-election, stating that the country could no longer endure the leftist party's 'trial and error' policies. However, he expressed his willingness to form a coalition government with 'Syriza', which Tsipras rejected. On Sunday, after it became clear that his party had won the elections, Tsipras announced that he would form a new government within three days. Tsipras, 41, had resigned about a month ago amid rising disputes within his party over the implementation of austerity measures agreed upon with the European Union, prompting the call for early elections. 'Syriza' had previously won the elections in February with a promise not to implement austerity measures and to renegotiate the terms of loans from the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, securing 36.3% of the votes. However, after forming a government, Tsipras was compelled to accept many of the EU's conditions during negotiations, leading to a rift within the party and the departure of several senior members who announced they would form a new party. Nine parties competed in the parliamentary elections on Sunday, September 29, with over 9.8 million people declared eligible to vote. The voter turnout for this election is still unclear. According to preliminary results, among other parties, the neo-Nazi party 'Golden Dawn' is expected to receive about 7% of the votes, meaning they will send 19 representatives to Greece's 300-member parliament. The socialist party 'PASOK' is also likely to gain representation in parliament. In this context, the Greek Prime Minister called for early elections after his resignation, and the Greek government issued an order to reopen the country's banks. Greece rejected the EU's financial proposals as 'unreasonable'.