Greek PM Alexis Tsipras called for a snap election as his SYRIZA party was routed in the European and local elections held on Sunday.
Tsipras said that he will request from the Greek President to dissolve the Greek parliament immediately after the second round of the local and municipal elections.
“The outcome was not up to our expectations,” he said.
In the wake of SYRIZA’s defeat, he said that the commitment to the people is a “moral obligation.” Outcome of triple elections gives opposition the right to question the government’s “historic endeavor.”
With more than a third of the votes counted in the European election opposition New Democracy (ND) party is set to win the contest by more than 9 percentage points.
According to official results, ND gets 33.3 percent, with governing SYRIZA following with 23.8 percent.
The socialist party Movement for Change came third at 7.1 percent, followed by the Communist KKE party at 5.7 percent, according to the results.
Greece’s neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn fell to an estimated 4.8 percent — nearly five points short of its previous showing in 2014 — with a new nationalist party, Greek Solution, on 4 percent making gains at their expense.
Speaking after the first official results were announced, ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said that the government has lost its legitimacy.
“Greece is in need of a new government. PM Tsipras must assume his responsibility and resign. The country needs elections,” Mitsotakis said.
He added that he strives to unite all Greeks irrespective of who they voted for. “The sun is rising on a much brighter Greece,” he said.