Greece dissolved its Parliament on Wednesday, preparing for early general elections this month that could provoke a showdown with its creditors and cause turmoil in financial markets.

The vote, a constitutional requirement after Parliament failed to choose a president, is widely depicted as a referendum on the austerity measures imposed by the country’s creditors in return for multibillion-dollar bailouts.

By tradition, the dissolution was announced in a decree posted at the door of the Parliament building in Athens.

The dissolution followed a vote in Parliament on Monday when the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to muster enough support for its presidential candidate, Stavros Dimas, setting in motion procedures for elections to be held on Jan. 25.