MPs angry at what they see as betrayal of anti-austerity principles announce decision in letter to parliament after Alexis Tsipras’s resignation

Hardline rebels have confirmed an irreparable split in Greece’s ruling Syriza movement and broken away to form a new anti-austerity party as the country heads towards its fifth general election in six years.

The long-awaited move by up to 29 dissident Syriza MPs on Friday followed the resignation of the prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, who stepped down on Thursday to pave the way for a snap poll widely forecast to strengthen his hold on power.

The new Popular Unity party, headed by the former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, said it would fight the promises of further austerity and far-reaching reform that Tsipras made to Greece’s international lenders to secure a new €86bn (£62bn) bailout package.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Greek prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, announced his resignation in a televised address.

Lafazanis told a press conference the party would offer a realistic alternative to the deal. He said: “A new power is coming to the fore. We aim for government ... and we will not fall victim to blackmail. We want to become a great movement that will sweep the bailouts aside.”

The veteran former Communist party member listed Popular Unity’s key objectives as cancelling Greece’s three bailouts, writing down its mountain of debt and leaving the eurozone “if necessary” to help the country recover.

He said: “The country cannot take more bailouts. We will either finish off the bailouts, or the bailouts will finish off Greece and the Greek people. The country cannot breathe and stand on its feet unless a big part of the debt is cancelled.”

A revolt by nearly a third of Syriza’s 149 MPs during last week’s vote on the rescue package left Tsipras without a secure parliamentary majority, prompting him to resign ahead of elections that government officials said were most likely to take place on 20 September.

Greek elections: Alexis Tsipras makes a calculated gamble Read more

Tsipras said he now felt a moral obligation to put Greece’s third international bailout and the further swingeing austerity measures it requires to the people.

He insisted on Thursday that accepting creditor demands for a radical overhaul of the Greek economy, including major reforms of health, welfare, pensions and taxation, was the only way to ensure Greece remained in the eurozone, which opinion polls show is what the overwhelming majority of Greeks want.

In a televised address, Tsipras said: “I wish to be fully frank with you. We did not achieve the agreement that we were hoping for. But [the agreement] was the best anyone could have achieved. We are obliged to observe it – but at the same time we will do our utmost to minimise its negative consequences.”

One of the new party’s members, the MP and economist Costas Lapavitsas, noted that Greek voters had voted overwhelmingly against the punishing terms of the bailout deal offered by the eurozone and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in June, only to be confronted by a policy U-turn from the prime minister.

He said on public television: “We want to give a voice to the 62% of the people who said no and do not want bailouts. We see strong support from the people who feel betrayed.”

On Friday, the Greek president, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, began the process of asking the main opposition party leaders whether they would be able to form a new government. Under the constitution, each of the three largest parties in parliament must now be offered a three-day mandate to try to build a coalition.

As Tsipras uses the polls for his own ends, democracy fatigue threatens | David Patrikarakos Read more

Neither the centre-right New Democracy party nor Popular Unity, now the third largest parliamentary group, look likely to be able to muster a majority, leaving fresh elections the most probable outcome of the process.

The president of Greece’s supreme court, Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, will head a caretaker government in the runup to the vote, which must take place within a month of parliament being dissolved.

Tsipras’s resignation came within hours of the debt-crippled country receiving its first tranche of the new bailout funds, allowing it to make a critical €3.4bn debt repayment to the European Central Bank (ECB).



Eurozone leaders saw a chance in the early ballot to consolidate Greek reforms rather than viewing it as a disruptive process. On a visit to Brazil, the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, said Tsipras’s decision was was “part of the solution, not of the problem”.

Thomas Wieser, the Austrian chair of the euro working group of senior eurozone officials preparing bailout policy, also sounded encouraged. He told Austrian radio he suspected Tsipras would turn out to be a more committed reformer of Greece than his predecessors on the centre right and left.

Tsipras spoke repeatedly to Jean-Claude Juncker, the European commission president, before calling the early election, said Annika Breidthardt, a commission spokeswoman. She said the commission had expected the early election call and was not surprised.

Despite being forced to accept the demands, which included further pension cuts, more VAT increases and a controversial “solidarity” tax on incomes – precisely the kind of policies he had promised to overturn when he was elected in January – Tsipras remains popular with Greek voters for at least having tried to stand up to the country’s creditors.

Greek bailout Q&A: What happens next? Read more

There have been no opinion polls for nearly a month, but Syriza is by far Greece’s strongest political force and is likely to remain so even shorn of its rebels.

Analysts suggest the vote may allow Tsipras to move Syriza closer to the political centre ground as he gambles on being able to sideline his dissidents and shore up broader public support before the harshest effects of the bailout package start to bite.

The Fitch ratings agency warned the election could hinder or delay the creditors’ planned October review of Greece’s progress under the new bailout programme and rekindle concerns about Athens’ ability to honour its pledges. Markets responded negatively to the political uncertainty, with the Athens stock exchange falling 2.7% and 10-year bonds rising sharply.



But the outgoing deputy finance minister, Tryfon Alexiadis, said only an election could stabilise Greece. He said: “Elections surely have an indirect cost … but they will clear things up so we can move ahead.”







