Tsipras on course for majority

By Vasiliki Mitsiniotou

ATHENS

With nearly two-thirds of votes counted, Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza party seems highly likely to have won Greece’s early general election, officials said.

The leftist party secured 37 percent of the vote with 62 percent of ballots counted, the Interior Ministry said, giving it around 145 seats in parliament - six short of the majority needed to form a single-party government.

The victory is a boost for Tsipras and his battle to get Greeks to accept the reforms imposed as part of the financial package to pull the country out of economic crisis.

“This victory belongs to the people and those who dream of a better tomorrow and we'll achieve it with hard work,” Tsipras said, describing the win as a clear mandate to govern for a full four-year term.

However, he warned of difficulties ahead and said economic recovery would not be easy.

Syriza is expected to work alongside the right-wing Independent Greeks, who seem likely to gain nine seats, giving them a comfortable majority.

Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos said that Greece would “move towards exiting from austerity politics.”

The New Democracy party polled second with around 28 percent of votes, giving it 75 seats.

Conceding defeat outside his party’s headquarters in Athens, leader Vangelis Meimarakis said: “The election result shows that the first party is Syriza and Tsipras. I congratulate him.”

European Parliament President Martin Schulz and French President Francois Hollande also congratulated Tsipras.

The far-right Golden Dawn received around 6.2 percent, giving them 17 seats in parliament.

The final results are expected after 9.30 p.m. local time (2130GMT). The vote, which had not been due until February 2019, is the third time this year Greeks have gone to polls.