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GREEK Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was set yesterday evening to call a snap general election for September.
As the Morning Star went to press, Greek national broadcaster ERT was reporting that Mr Tsipras would resign and call the election following an all-day meeting with ministers.
Reuters reported the date of the election as September 20, quoting an unnamed government official.
Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos had earlier told ERT that this time the election “will not be the same as those of 2012, because now there is agreement and there is a framework for the recapitalisation of banks.”
Energy Minister Panos Skourletis and others have recently urged the the prime minister to seek a fresh mandate from voters after accepting the draconian terms of a third EU bailout despite an overwhelming No vote in a July referendum.
“The political landscape must clear up. We need to know whether the government has or does not have a majority,” Mr Skourletis told ERT.
Communist Party of Greece (KKE) general secretary Dimitris Koutsoubas told ERT that his party was ready for elections at any time.
But he alleged that Mr Tsipras was setting a close election date so as not to give the anti-austerity opposition and left-wing dissidents in his own Syriza party time to organise against him.
The announcement rumours came after Greece received the first €13 billion (£9.3bn) tranche of the bailout — a reward for passing the latest round of EU-dictated austerity legislation and outsourcing the running of 14 regional airports to a German company.
In order to pass the legislation, Mr Tsipras had to rely on the votes of the pro-austerity parties he defeated in January’s snap election after a quarter of his backbenchers revolted.
European bailout fund supervisors approved the release on Wednesday evening.
The loan was used to cover a €3.2bn (£2.3bn) instalment of a previous loan from the European Central Bank due yesterday.
The new three-year bailout totals €86bn (£61bn) and is dependent on the Greek government implementing a series of reforms, including tax rises and public spending cuts.
