Tsipras resigns, requests clear mandate in snap elections

August 21, 2015
Written by E.Tsiliopoulos

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said he is placing the actions of his government at the judgment of the Greek people as he announced his resignation and national elections for September, in a televised statement on Thursday night. The premier said he has a clear conscience and asked voters for a clear mandate.

He said the agreement achieved with the country’s creditors the mandate received by the government on January 25 has expired and now people have to speak again. He noted that the Greek people, with their vote, will decide on whom and how will represent the country, who will negotiate Greece’s debt, who and how will create the preconditions to restore the economy. "I feel the ethical and political obligation to leave my actions to your judgment, the right and the wrong and the omissions,” he said.

Reviewing the achievements of his government’s negotiating efforts, Tsipras admitted they didn’t achieve the agreement they were hoping for but that they also didn’t expect to face the reaction they faced in Europe. “We made concessions,” he noted, adding the deal which was eventually signed was “the best one could have achieved”.

He also clarified that the deal signed must be implemented although the government will try to minimize the repercussions, taking into consideration the interests of the majority “without accepting as infallible truth the interpretations given by the lenders, the horizontal cuts, the harsh cuts in labor rights.”

Tsipras explained that the difficult phase for the Greek economy has finished with the disbursement of the 23 billion euros which will start the repayment of state debts towards individuals allowing the economy “to breath and the market to normalize”.

He continued to note that while this isn’t the end of the difficult situation the country is going through, it may be the beginning of the end. “We know we can fight and achieve much; the popular mandate of January 25 has exhausted its limits, and you with your vote will decide whether the agreement achieved can result in a deliverance from the Memorandums.”

He also criticized the stance of the Left Platform saying that their ideological consistency means they want a memorandum with the drachma and accused them of turning the government’s majority to a minority.

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