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In Greece, radical left wins election
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Leader of Syriza left-wing party Alexis Tsipras speaks to his supporters outside Athens University Headquarters, on Sunday in Greece. Anti-bailout Syriza, led by the 40-year-old Tsipras, won Sunday’s snap general election, but it was unclear whether he would have enough seats in parliament to form a government alone or whether he would need the support of a smaller party.
Associated Press
ATHENS, GREECE
A radical left-wing party vowing to end Greece’s painful austerity program won a historic victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections, setting the stage for a showdown with the country’s international creditors that could shake the eurozone.
Alexis Tsipras, leader of the communist-rooted Syriza party, immediately promised to end the “five years of humiliation and pain” that Greece has endured since an international bailout saved it from bankruptcy in 2010.
Syriza appeared just shy of the majority that would allow it to govern alone. With 96.8 percent of polling stations counted, Syriza had 36.4 percent — and 149 of parliament’s 300 seats — versus 27.8 percent for Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ conservatives.
If Tsipras, 40, can put together a government, he will be Greece’s youngest prime minister in 150 years, while Syriza would be the first radical left party to ever govern the country.
The prospect of an anti-bailout government coming to power in Greece has revived fears of a bankruptcy that could reverberate across the eurozone, send shockwaves through global markets and undermine the euro, the currency shared by 19 European countries.
Tsipras won on promises to demand debt forgiveness and renegotiate the terms of Greece’s $270 billion bailout, which has kept the debt-ridden country afloat since mid-2010.