Rebels from Greece’s governing left-wing Syriza are to break away and form a new party. Prime Minister and Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras stood down on Thursday, paving the way for new elections. The move came after he lost the support of many of his own MPs in a vote on the country’s new bailout with European creditors earlier this month. BBC reports:
Greek media reports say 25 rebel Syriza MPs will join the new party, called Laiki Enotita (Popular Unity). The party will be led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, who was strongly opposed to the bailout deal, reports say.A list of MPs joining the partypublished by the Ta Nea newspapershowed that the parliamentary speaker Zoe Konstantopulou and former finance minister Yanis Varoufakis were not among its members.Both had opposed a new bailout deal, with Ms Konstantopulou highly critical of her former ally Mr Tsipras. Syriza won 149 seats in Greece’s 300-seat parliament in the last election in January. The conservative New Democracy party came second, with 76 seats.The new Popular Unity party becomes the third largest in parliament. In exchange for a new €86bn ($95bn; £61bn) from European partners, Mr Tsipras had to agree to painful state sector cuts, including far-reaching pension reforms – and keep Greece in the eurozone.
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