One month after resigning as Prime Minister following a revolt by party members over the international bailout deal he had brokered, Alexis Tsiprass party Syriza emerged the winner again in Greeces elections held on Sunday (20 September).
His leftist party just fell shy of an outright majority but will form a coalition with its former partners, the small rightwing Independent Greeks party, Reuters said.
With around 57% of the votes counted, Syriza is on course to claim 35.5% of the votes, easily seeing off main conservative challengers, New Democracy which only managed to garner 28.2%.
The Interior Ministry said that would give Syriza 145 seats in the 300-seat parliament, only four short of the number of seats the party won when Tsipras first stormed to victory in the January general elections.
New Democracy conceded defeat with its leader Vangelis Meimarakis saying: The electoral result appears to be concluding with Syriza and Mr Tspiras in the lead. I congratulate him and urge him to create the government which is needed.
Far right party with a swastika-like symbol, the Golden Dawn, emerged in third place with around 7% of the vote, Reuters said.
In a victory speech in a central Athens square, the leftist leader promised a new phase of stability in a country that has held five general elections in six years. He said the new mandate will now see him through a full term.
Today in Europe, Greece and the Greek people are synonymous with resistance and dignity. This struggle will be continued together for a full four years, he said.
Reuters said although the leader of the Syriza party leader did not make any specific reference to the international bailout deal, the party had campaigned on a pledge to implement it but promised to introduce measures to protect vulnerable groups from come aspects of the deal.
We have difficulties ahead of us but we also have a solid ground, we know where we can step, we have a prospect. Recovery from the crisis cant come magically, it can come through tough work, he said.
The bailout programme is due for a review next month and Tsiprass top task, after forming a new government, will be to convince lenders that enough steps have been taken as agreed to ensure the next payment.
But its financial crisis is not the only issue that the new prime minister will have to tackle. Greece is struggling to deal with the tens of thousands of migrants fleeing war-torn regions in the Middle East.
