Alexis Tsipras, the leftist opposition leader in Greece, announced his decision to step down as the leader of his Syriza party on Thursday. The decision comes four days after his defeat against Kyriakos Mitsotakis of New Democracy (right).
“There are times when important decisions have to be made,” Alexis Tsipras said in a statement to the media in Athens. The former Prime Minister of Greece (2015-2019) insisted that ‘there will be an election for a new leader within SYRIZA, during which I will not be a candidate’.
Alexis Tsipras, 48, who has led the organization since 2009, suffered an unprecedented defeat in Sunday’s legislative election. His party received only 17.83% of the vote, 20 points less than the right of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who returned to power for a second four-year term with 40.56% of the vote and 158 seats in Greece’s 300-member parliament.
Mr Tsipras added that ‘a cycle is coming to an end and a new (cycle) must be opened for our party’ which ‘needs renewal and important reforms’.
‘Hard Decisions’
As of Sunday evening, Alexis Tsipras had warned his party of a “negative result” and the “need to take tough decisions” in announcing the results of the first part of the legislative elections.
‘I have a habit of not making decisions in the heat of the moment. “I took three days to think to make a decision calmly,” said Alexis Tsipras, known for embodying anti-austerity sentiment across Europe when he came to power in Greece in 2015. Amid the financial crisis.
Creditors who have threatened to leave the euro have had to bow to their mandates for tough austerity measures before the former prime minister succeeded after a standoff with the EU and IMF.
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