Thursday, August 20, 2015

Greek PM Tsipras Resigns, Elections Set for Sept.; Forced to Accept EU Demands for More Austerity

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned today, hoping to strengthen his hold on power in snap elections after seven months in office in which he fought Greece's creditors for a better bailout deal but had to cave in to their demands, according to the Reuters website.

Tsipras submitted his resignation to President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and asked for the earliest possible election date.

Government officials said the aim was to hold the election on September 20, with Tsipras seeking to crush a rebellion in his leftist Syriza party and seal public support for the bailout program -- Greece's third since 2010 -- that he negotiated.

Faced with a near collapse of the Greek financial system which threatened the country's future in the European Union (EU), Tsipras was forced to accept the creditors' demands for yet more austerity and economic reform -- the very policies he had promised to scrap when he was elected prime minister in January.

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