Tags: Greek debt crisis

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras Has Resigned; 3rd Bailout Underway

By , Money Morning •

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras will resign later today, Aug. 20, 2015. He is expected to make an official announcement this evening, at which time he will also make his intentions for the future clear, wrote SkyNews on Aug. 20.

Greek debt crisis
Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in the polling station after voting for the Greek referendum, speaking to reporters in Kerkyras Kastalia street in Athens on June 5, 2015.

Tsipras was expected to initially call snap elections this morning to neutralize opposition by a leftist party in parliament and to garner support for a tough, unpopular bailout program. Snap elections are elections held earlier than expected to address urgent issues. In Greece's case, they will likely take place in September, according to USA Today.

While Tsipras' decision to call snap elections was expected, his resignation was not.

The Syriza leader had just taken office in January. Syriza, a radical-left party, gained popularity for its campaign based upon a platform of scrapping spending cuts and tax increases. However, when Tsipras took office, he did a complete 180-degree turn. He ultimately agreed to European leaders' strict austerity measures instead. After three weeks of negotiations in Athens, Tsipras managed secure a three-year package worth 86 billion euros ($95 billion).

After Alexis Tsipras has officially resigned, a "caretaker government" will be installed until the elections take place, wrote The Guardian.

Greek debt crisis
The Guardian posted the above tweet clarifying that Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou is the president of the Greek Supreme Court. Greek law dictates that, should current government resign, the role of prime minister should go to president of the Supreme Court.

The front-runner expected to lead that administration is Vassiliki Thanou. Thanou is 65-years-old and is president of the Supreme Court of Greece.

Also today, Greece received the first 13 billion euros ($14.5 billion) from its new bailout package, allowing it to pay a debt of 3.2 billion euros to the European Central Bank (ECB).

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