Alexis Tsipras, the Greek prime minister, has called for an early national election following the defeat of his party in the European parliamentary elections.
His Syriza party was estimated to have received just 23.94% of votes in the elections, trailing behind its main opposition party New Democracy, which received 33.28%.
Speaking from the offices of his Syriza party, Mr Tsipras said: “the result does not rise to our expectionations…. I will not ignore it or quit.”
The government’s term expires in October and before the Greek leader’s announcement, government officials insisted the election would be held at the end of the term.
Mr Tsipras said he would visit the Greek president to request an early dissolution of parliament after the second round of local and regional elections on June 2.
This moves the election date forward to June 30 at the earliest.
