The electoral defeat of June 25 will therefore have marked the end of Alexis Tsipras’ career within the Greek radical left. The leader of the opposition to the right-wing New Democracy party has announced his decision to relinquish the leadership of the Syriza party.
“There are times when you have to make crucial decisions,” said Alexis Tsipras, former Prime Minister (2015-2019) in a statement to the media in Athens. He stressed that he would call “elections within Syriza for a new leader, in which [he] will not be a candidate”.
At the head of this party since 2009, Alexis Tsipras, 48, suffered an unprecedented defeat in the legislative elections on Sunday. His party won only 17.83% of the vote, more than 20 points less than the right of Kyriakos Mitsotakis who was returned to power for a second four-year term with 40.56% of the vote and 158 seats on the 300 of the Greek Parliament.
“A cycle is closing and a new [cycle] must be opened for our party [which] needs renewal and important reforms,” ??Tsipras added. As of Sunday evening, at the announcement of the first partial results of the legislative elections, Alexis Tsipras had warned of the “negative result” for his party and of “the need to make difficult decisions”.
“I’m used to not making decisions in the heat of the moment. I took the time to reflect for three days to decide with composure,” said Alexis Tsipras, known for embodying the hope of the anti-austerity left across Europe when he came to power in Greece in 2015. in the midst of a financial crisis.
After a showdown with the creditors, EU and IMF, who then waved the threat of the country’s exit from the euro, the former Prime Minister had to bow to their dictates for strict austerity before succeeding in exiting. of the country from the crisis and the economic recovery.