Greek PM Resigns

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has resigned and along with his government to seek a clear mandate for early elections on September 20.

In a televised speech, he told the nation that he felt he needed to allow the nation to vote on the financial bailout compromise with the EU.

“The present parliament cannot offer a government of majority or a national unity government,” Tsipras told Pavlopoulos during a meeting on Thursday night.

Government sources cited by the official news agency ANA said he had proposed elections on September 20. The resignation comes after a divide within the governing left-wing party over the terms of the country’s latest bailout.

In recent parliamentary votes, a number of Syriza’s 149 lawmakers have withheld their support for laws pushed by Mr. Tsipras’s government to secure a new bailout from Europe.

In an Aug. 14 vote to approve Greece’s latest loan package, worth €86 billion over three years, 32 Syriza deputies voted no while another 11 abstained. The package passed, thanks to support from opposition parties.

Energy Minister Panos Skourletis said Thursday that the government should go for elections as early as possible. “The political landscape must clear up. We need to know whether the government has or does not have a majority.”