Greece’s Alexis Tsipras has said his left-wing Syriza party has a “clear mandate” after winning a second general election in less than nine months.
But he said Greeks faced a difficult road and recovery from financial crisis would only come through hard work. With nearly all votes counted, Syriza had won more than 35%. That was short of a majority, but Syriza will form a coalition with the nationalist Independent Greeks. Conservative New Democracy won 28%.
The far-right Golden Dawn is set to be the third biggest party, with about 7% of the vote. The snap election was called after Syriza lost its majority in August. This followed the signing of an unpopular new financial bailout deal with international creditors, BBC reported.
Turnout in Sunday’s poll was just over 55%, down from 63% in January and low by Greek standards.
“I feel vindicated because the Greek people have a clear mandate to carry on fighting inside and outside our country to uphold the pride of our people,” Tsipras told supporters in Athens.
“In Europe today, Greece and the Greek people are synonymous with resistance and dignity, and this struggle will be continued together for another four years.
“We have difficulties ahead, but we are also on firm ground. We won’t recover from the struggle by magic, but it can happen with hard work.”
Tsipras was joined on stage by Panos Kammenos, leader of Independent Greeks, who also entered a coalition with Syriza after the previous election in January.
“Together we will continue the struggle we began seven months ago,” Tsipras said.
