Athens: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for new national elections in a bid to consolidate his power and press ahead with the €86 billion ($132 billion) bailout plan he agreed to with European creditors.

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

"Now it will be to the people to decide," Mr Tsipras said. "I feel the deep moral, political obligation to submit to your judgment. Your vote will determine if we represented you courageously in talks with the creditors, if this agreement is enough for us to emerge from the crisis."

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