In an expected outcome, the left-wing, anti-austerity party Syriza has reportedly won today”s national election in Greece.
But it is yet unclear whether or not the party has achieved a decisive victory over Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s incumbent conservatives to be able to rule the country on its own. Syriza needs a minimum 151 out of the 300 parliament seats to attain a decisive majority, thus avoiding the need for a coalition government.
During the run-up to the election, Syriza (an acronym that stands for ‘Coalition of the Radical Left’) leader Alexis Tsipras has maintained a promise to renegotiate the country’s 240 billion-euro (£179bn) international bailout deal, and he also pledged to reverse many of the ‘reforms’ imposed on Greece by creditors in return for keeping credit flowing into the country. Many Greeks saw these reforms as draconian and unfair.
More to follow on this story…