Greek Opposition Tries to Form Government as Election Looms

One day after Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras resigned and called for an early election to deal with a party rebellion over the country’s third bailout deal, Greece’s president has asked the country’s main opposition party to form a new government.

AP reports:

The opposition has few chances of uniting and forming a government, meaning that after more than five years of a worsening financial crisis, Greece is headed for its fifth national election in six years. Tsipras is widely tipped to win the vote, though if he fails to secure an outright majority he could have to seek a new coalition that could hamper his ability to govern.

Hardline lawmakers in Tsipras’ radical left Syriza party announced Friday they were splitting from the party and forming their own anti-austerity movement, which becomes the third largest group in parliament. …

Malcolm Barr of J.P. Morgan noted that if Tsipras and his Syriza party return to office, as expected, they would do so without the hardliners and would seek out a moderate coalition partner that would help implement the bailout program.

Read more here.

— Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly.