Jubilant: Syriza supporters celebrate victory in the Greek general election, in which the anti-austerity party triumphed over ruling conservatives
An
anti-austerity party today won a landmark election victory in Greece
which critics fear could force the Eurozone into a fresh crisis.
With
99.8 per cent of the vote counted, radical leftist party Syriza won 149
seats in the 300-member parliament, just two seats short of outright
rule.
But
leader Alexis Tsipras quickly gained the key backing he needed to form a
government by creating a surprise alliance with a small right-wing
party.
The
coalition with the Independent Greeks party puts the country on a
collision course with the EU over its massive bailout deal.
Mr
Tsipras has pledged to renegotiate Greece's €240billion (£179bn)
international bailout deal - and to reverse many of the reforms that EU
creditors demanded in exchange for keeping Greece financially afloat
since 2010.
The
Euro hit an 11-year low against the dollar today, trading at $1.1088 in
Tokyo in early morning trade, the lowest level since September 2003.
The single currency has also tumbled against the pound, with sterling hitting a seven-year high of around €1.34.
Outgoing
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras had earlier warned the result would
leave Greece on the 'brink of catastrophe' and David Cameron said it
would 'increase economic uncertainty across Europe'.
Emotional: Projections suggested Syriza was due to receive between 149 seats - just short of the 151 it would need for an overall majority
Syriza's supporters (pictured) were told the party will help Greece 'come out of a vicious circle of debt' by axing austerity measures
'Our priority above all will be to restore the country's lost dignity,' Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras, 40, told a rally of thousands of supporters
The radical left party leader, whose son is named after Che Guevara, promised to clash with 'old establishments' and the 'regime of corruption'
As Mr Samaras phoned Mr Tsipras to concede defeat last night, jubilant supporters waved flags on the streets of Athens.
'The Greek people have spoken', said Mr Samaras in a televised statement. 'Everyone respects their decision. My conscience is clear.'
Mr Tsipras told a rally of thousands of supporters he would defeat 'austerity which destroys our common European future', his speech backed by the booming sounds of Rock the Casbah by The Clash.
'I would like to reassure you that the new Greek government will be ready to co-operate and negotiate for the first time with our partners for a mutually beneficial and sustainable solution so Greece comes out of a vicious circle of debt,' he said.
'We have a great opportunity for a new beginning both in Greece and in Europe. For a new policy, for a new model of relations based on mutual respect.
Our priority from tomorrow will be to restore popular sovereignty in the country, to give justice, to clash with old establishments. To clash with the regime of corruption. To promote reforms in the state, public administration, everywhere.
'Our priority above all will be to restore the country's lost dignity. We regain hope, we regain smiles, optimism and dignity for our people.'
An EU source conceded Sunday that an improved deal on the bailout would have to be struck with the new force in Greek politics.
'We will not escape a re-negotiation,' the source told the AFP news agency.
Hours after the victory was confirmed, the small nationalist Independent Greeks party said it will join a coalition under Syriza, giving the government a majority of 162 seats.
'From this moment on, there is a government, we will give a vote of confidence to the new prime minister,' leader Panos Kammenos said after meeting Tsipras.
A Syriza source added that the two parties 'will ally themselves to secure a majority in parliament and form a government.'
Cheering: Syriza's supporters celebrated having an estimated 36 per cent of the vote, compared to the conservatives' 28 per cent
The supporters were told: 'Our priority from tomorrow will be to restore popular sovereignty in the country, to give justice, to clash with old establishments. To clash with the regime of corruption. To promote reforms in the state, public administration, everywhere'
Uncompromising: Greece has built up years of resentment to austerity and bailout measures imposed by the European Central Bank
Jubilant: Syriza supporters waved everything from rainbow flags to those bearing Communist symbolism as they heard of their victory
Emotional: After being crippled by debt, Greece has undergone enforced austerity with a youth unemployment rate of 50 per cent
Yanis Varoufakis, who is tipped to be Syriza's finance minister, celebrated the win this morning, but said the party was faced with a 'poisoned chalice'.
Speaking on Radio 4's Today programme, he said: 'Tragically our state became bankrupt and Europe decided to deal with this by placing the largest loan on the poorest shoulders on the condition that we would have to shrink our income to a quarter.
'Anyone could see this would be bad news and this fiscal waterboarding turned Greece into a dead state.
'The one glimmer of the light is that the Greek democracy decided to elect us. And to quote your Dylan Thomas we tried to go into the light and did not go gentle into that night.'
Referring to the Eurozone bailout, he said: 'My dear fellows, the problem is that you've paid far too much – €240billion and less than 10 per cent has gone near Greece. It has gone into the dark pit of creditors.
'We have to end that never-ending vicious cycle. We plan to come up with genuine reforms needed to put an end to corruption and bureaucracy.
'We want to create a rational plan for debt structure. There obviously has been a lot of posturing, but we want to sit down and discuss a way to cut the debt.
'We want to increase the minimum wage as we do not believe a hideously low minimum wage is conducive to growth.'
He said an exit from the Euro was not on the cards and the party did not plan to be confrontational with Brussels.
He said: 'Europe has a degree of fragility and we must be careful not to have too much loose, fast talk. We are sure there is room for mutual gains and benefits.'
The gathered masses heard the party leader say: 'We have a great opportunity for a new beginning both in Greece and in Europe'
Winds of change: Supporters (left) put their faith in 40-year-old Alexis Tsipras (right), who is known for his laid-back style
A message to Merkel: Syriza supporters on the streets of Athens wished the German Chancellor good night as they romped home to victory
THE MOTORBIKE-RIDING FORMER ENGINEER WHO NAMED HIS SON AFTER CHE GUEVARA: HOW ALEXIS TSIPRAS ROSE FROM HUMBLE ROOTS IN WORKING-CLASS ATHENS TO THE BRINK OF BECOMING YOUNGEST GREEK PM IN 150 YEARS
Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras, 40, was a member of the youth wing of the Greek Communist Party, the KKE, rising to prominence as candidate for the mayor of Athens in 2006.
He is known for his relaxed attitude: swapping limos for motorbikes to travel around Athens and prefers open-necked shirts to a suit and tie.
He trained as an engineer, but eventually went into politics full-time.
Tsipras became leader of Syriza in 2008 at the age of 34 at the height of Greece's economic crisis.
Syriza was formed in 2004 as a coalition of moderate Communists, Trotskyists, ecologists and other leftist groups, but has occasionally found it difficult to present a united front.
Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras is known for his relaxed attitude: prefering open-necked shirts to a suit and tie
He has also become the undisputed star of the radical European left, standing against Jean-Claude Juncker in May's election for European Commission president.
He lives with his partner, Betty Batziana, an electrical and computer engineer, with their two children in a flat in a seven-storey apartment block in Kypseli, a modest, working-class area of Athens.
Their youngest son's middle name is Ernesto – a tribute to Che Guevara, one of Mr Tsipras's idols.
He looks set to become Greece's youngest Prime Minister for 150 years. He is a fan of football club Panathinaikos.
Humble roots of a future PM: The ramshackle block of flats where Tsipras with his partner, Betty Batziana, an electrical and computer engineer, live with their two children in one of the most densely populated areas of Athens
WISH LIST OF A CHE GUEVARA FAN
- A major renegotiation of Greece's debts and deep cuts in repayments on its £185billion international bailout
- Writing off the bank debts of people who can't afford to pay – a move some experts fear could result in a run on lenders today
- Heavy new taxes on the rich including wealth taxes, new levies on luxury goods and an end to tax breaks for Greek shipping magnates
- A massive job creation scheme to tackle Greece's 25 per cent unemployment rate, and a 50 per cent increase in the minimum wage
- Deep cuts in defence spending and possible withdrawal from Nato
Greece's economy was saved by bailouts totalling more than €240billion (£180bn) from the EU and the IMF after its economy collapsed in the global financial crisis from 2007.
But in order to qualify for the money, it had to make sweeping public sector cuts.
The outgoing Prime Minister was unrepentant. He said: 'I received a country which was almost destroyed and I was asked to take the hot potato and I did that.
'Most people didn't give any prospects that we would endure... We had to take difficult measures and there were some mistakes and injustices but we averted the worst.
'I am handing over a country that has no deficit, secure for the citizens... a country that gets out of the crisis in an organised way.
'I wish sincerely that my predictions do not come true, but I had to warn everyone.'
Syriza is led by the 40-year-old Alexis Tsipras, who looks set to be Greece's youngest Prime Minister for 150 years.
He is known for his relaxed attitude, travelling by motorbike and preferring open-necked shirts to a suit and tie.
He lives in an apartment block in a working-class suburb of Athens with his partner and two children – the youngest of whom has the middle name Ernesto after revolutionary Che Guevara.
His party wants to renegotiate the terms of Greece's 240billion Euro bailout with the EU and the International Monetary Fund.
It says repayments are stifling Greece's chances of recovering from a six-year recession - but its popularity spooked markets which fear a new financial crisis could push Greece out of the Euro.
Syriza party spokesman Panos Skourletis said it was 'a historic victory that sends a message that does not only concern the Greek people, but all European peoples.
'There is great relief among all Europeans. The only question is how big a victory it is.'
Left-wing French president Francois Hollande phoned the party leader to express his 'desire to pursue the close cooperation between our two countries in service of growth and the stability of the Euro zone, in a spirit of progress, solidarity and responsibility that is at the heart of the European values we share.'
Despondent: Outgoing Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said: 'I received a country which was almost destroyed and I was asked to take the hot potato and I did that... My conscience is clear. Most people didn't give any prospects that we would endure'
Congratulated: At the age of 40, Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras, 40 (left and right hugging a supporter) is due to become Greece's youngest Prime Minister for 150 years. He has been congratulated by the Greek PM, who conceded defeat, and French premier Francois Hollande
Rally: Thousands of anti-austerity supporters gathered and cheered in the centre of the capital Athens as the result was announced
Syriza party spokesman Panos Skourletis said it was 'a historic victory that sends a message that... concerns all European peoples'
Tied for third place on 6 to 7 per cent of the vote in exit polls were the centrists To Potami and the far-right party Golden Dawn, which critics have slammed as being neo-Nazi and racist.
New Democracy party leader Antonis Samaras, the country's Prime Minister, had already urged voters not to push Greece to the 'brink of catastrophe'.
Mr Samaras defended harsh austerity measures in a speech to fellow members of his conservative New Democracy party, saying he had no choice as the 'ship was sinking'.
The apparent Syriza victory means that a eurozone crisis could now form the backdrop to a second successive General Election in Britain.
Tory Party chairman Grant Shapps raised the prospect that Britain could end up in similar to trouble to Greece if Labour wins power and fails to tackle the deficit.
He said: 'Five years ago Britain had the same sized deficit, as a proportion of our economy, that Greece had. We took one route, which was to sort out, take the difficult decisions and sort out our economy. Greece has not done that and you see the chaos they're in.'
But the Labour former Cabinet minister Peter Hain welcomed the prospect of a Syriza victory, saying it would reopen the debate about austerity.
Mr Hain, a close ally of Ed Miliband, said: 'I hope Syriza wins because it will be a big kick to the orthodoxy – the austerity – gripping most of Europe and most of the world, including Britain.'
The general election was held almost two years early and was crucial for Greece's financial future.
As he voted yesterday, the Prime Minister appealed to undecided voters to ensure Greece stays on the path of stability and reforms.
'Today we are deciding if we move ahead with power, safety and confidence or if we get into an adventure,' Mr Samaras said after voting in the western Pelopponese region.
'I am optimistic because I believe no-one will risk the European course of our country.'
But opinion polls also showed a significant portion of Greek voters were undecided two days before the general election.
Speaking as the first ballots were cast, Syriza party leader Mr Tsipras said Europe must find an alternative to austerity.
'Our common future in Europe is not the future of austerity,' he told reporters after casting his vote in Athens.
The Syriza win represents another turning point for Europe after last week's announcement by the European Central Bank of a massive injection of cash into the bloc's flagging economy.
The bank has spent years trying to clamp down on budgets and pushing countries to pass structural reforms.
Some 9.8 million Greeks were eligible to vote. After its most severe crisis since the fall of the military junta in 1974, Greece's economy has shrunk by some 25 per cent.
Thousands of businesses have closed, wages and pensions have been slashed and more than half of young people are unemployed.
At the same time, its massive public debt has climbed from 146 per cent of gross domestic product in 2010 to 175.5 per cent last year, the second highest in the world.
The country's creditors insist Greece must abide by its commitments to continue receiving support, and investors and markets alike have been spooked by the anti-bailout rhetoric.
Victory: Supporters of Greek anti-austerity party Syriza react to the first exit polls which suggested it had a huge lead over the conservatives
Jubilant: Syriza (whose supporters are pictured) called the victory a 'historic' message to all Europeans about austerity measures
Response: Supporters took to the streets of Athens waving flags after a landmark victory which threatens a standoff with Germany
Greece could still face bankruptcy if a solution is not found, although talk of 'Grexit' - Greece having to leave the joint currency - and a subsequent potential collapse of the Euro itself has been far less fraught than during the last general election in 2012.
The Prime Minister's campaign focused on the gradually improving economy, which grew for the first time in six years in the third quarter of 2014, and has promised to reduce some taxes if re-elected.
He has warned of the potentially dire consequences of reneging on bailout conditions — to the point that his critics accused him of running a fear campaign.
But Syriza's promises of ending the crushing austerity Greeks have been living under since 2010 have wooed many voters infuriated by the deterioration in their standard of living and ever increasing tax bills.
The big question is whether any party will win the required 151 of parliament's 300 seats to form a government alone.
The Greek political scene has fractured during the financial crisis, with voters abandoning the two formerly dominant parties — the conservatives and the socialists — in favor of a smattering of smaller parties.