Tsipras calls Greek election for Sept. 20

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called an election for Sept. 20, saying he'll seek to remain in the job.

Tsipras announced the move to the nation a little after at 8 p.m. local time, or 1 p.m. ET in North America.

Tsipras submitted his resignation to President Prokopis Pavlopoulos and asked for the earliest possible election date. Officials with the Greek government say the aim is to hold the vote on Sept 20.

There had been speculation that Tsipras would call an election and then not run, but he said he is standing for re-election and seeks a mandate to continue as leader.

"I will seek the vote of Greek people to rule and continue our government programs," he said. "The political mandate of the January 25 elections has exhausted its limits and now the Greek people have to have their say," the Greek leader said, referring to his election win earlier this year.

Tsipras has held together his coalition of power in recent months as he stickhandles his way through negotiations for a new bailout, but in recent weeks, he has been able to count on less and less support from his own party, Syriza.

The government has long been rumoured to be considering holding a new election, but had said its priority was getting the first bailout instalment and making a debt repayment to the European Central Bank, both of which it did Thursday.

Syriza divided

Recent votes to accept new segments of bailout funds have passed, but with thinner majorities relying on more support from opposition parties while Syriza members vote against Tsipras's proposals.

"The certainty is that the need for elections has arisen," Energy and Environment Minister Panos Skourletis said on state television.

He said there are two reasons for snap polls, which would come just nine months after the government came into power:

The first is that dozens of Tsipras's governing left-wing Syriza party lawmakers voted against the government on the bailout deal. The government "has lost its majority (in parliament) — one can't avoid this," Skourletis said.

The other reason is Syriza is part of a government that needs to implement a program that is different to that for which it was elected.

Major concessions

Tsipras and his coalition government made a major U-turn in policy by accepting stringent budget austerity conditions that creditors had demanded in exchange for the 86-billion euro ($126-billion Cdn) three-year bailout program. Tsipras and his radical left Syriza party came to power in January promising to scrap such spending cuts and tax hikes.

He has since said that accepting the terms was the only way to ensure his country remains in the eurozone, which opinion polls have shown the vast majority of his population wants.

A parliamentary vote to approve the bailout conditions last week led to dozens of Syriza lawmakers voting against him, accusing him of capitulating to unreasonable demands that will plunge the Greek economy further into recession.

Greek banking is still restricted under capital controls imposed in late June to stem a bank run sparked after Tsipras called a referendum on creditor proposals for reforms following a breakdown in bailout negotiations. There are weekly limits on cash withdrawals and Greeks can only transfer up to 500 euros ($733) abroad per month. Companies have faced problems paying suppliers abroad, with all international payments requiring a laborious process of approval by a special finance ministry committee.

"Greece has capital controls, the economy is choking, and we will now have uncertainty from elections, so you understand that it has been a difficult month," Sioutis said.

Greece received the first 13 billion euros ($19 billion) from its new bailout package on Thursday, allowing it to repay its ECB debt and avoid a messy default.

Greece could not have afforded the debt repayment, which was confirmed by the debt management agency, without the rescue funds from 18 other European nations that share the euro currency. Missing the payment would have raised new questions about the country's ability to remain in the euro.

European bailout fund supervisors approved the release of the first batch of loans on Wednesday evening, with 12 billion euros ($17.5 billion) earmarked for repaying debts and the remainder for settling arrears to public sector suppliers.