1st LD: Greek PM says to resign from post before snap general elections: media reports
Xinhua, August 20, 2015 Adjust font size:
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced that he would submit his resignation from post before snap general elections in September, local media reported on Thursday.
According to state television broadcaster ERT and other local media, citing government sources, Tsipras was to make a televised address to Greek people later on Thursday and formally submit his resignation to Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos so that a caretaker government takes over.
Tsipras was informing political leaders during phone calls on Thursday afternoon that his government's decision will hold snap general elections in September, according to local media reports on Thursday.
The Leftist leader has started contacts with political leaders shortly after the end of meetings with his advisors, private SKAI television reported.
The most likely ballot dates, according to media reports, were September 13 or September 20.
The Greek leader made the decision for the second electoral battle in a year after the January 25 polls that brought his party to power, in a bid to overcome a party rift and implement the third bailout agreement his government reached with international lenders this summer, according to analysts. Endit