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Greek prime minister calls for early election after EU loss

Athens' stock market has opened up 5 per cent on Monday

27 May, 11:29
(ANSA-AP) - ATHENS - Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called for an early national election following the defeat of his party at the European Parliament elections. Tsipras said from the Syriza party offices that "the result does not rise to our expectations ... I will not ignore it or quit." Tsipras credited his government for pulling the country out of the austerity imposed by Greece's creditors and said that voting for Sunday's winner, the conservative New Democracy, would be turning back to "the darkness of austerity, the darkness off crisis, the oligarchs, the International Monetary Fund." The government's term expires in October and before Sunday night's announcement, government officials insisted that elections would be held at the end of the term. But a long and, it is said, contentious meeting of government ministers and party officials, ended with the announcement of the early election. Tsipras said he will visit the Greek president to request the early dissolution of parliament after the second round of local and regional elections on June 2. This puts the election date at June 30 at the earliest.

On Monday, Greece's stock market has opened up 5 per cent, the morning after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called snap general elections following a resounding defeat of his left-wing Syriza party in European elections. Official results from 75% of the vote Monday showed the conservative New Democracy party more than 9.5 percentage points ahead of Syriza, with 33.26 percent, compared to the governing party's 23.75 percent. (ANSA-AP).

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