Greek PM's clever power game
Like he has done so many times in the past, Alexis Tsipras has surprised us. Primarily, the left-wing premier and leader of the Syriza party wanted to call for a vote of confidence. He then played with the notion that demands for budget cuts could still be rubber stamped in a – specially convened – summertime session of parliament. In the end he decided - seemingly spontaneously - to resign. To simply leave and let President Prokopis Pavlopoulos handle it? Until just recently this would have been seen as a horrifying prospect, if you take the consequences into account.
Waiting for word from the president
That's because, according to the prevailing interpretation of the Greek constitution, the president in this case must first give Tsipras another order to form a government and afterwards, if necessary, pass that mandate on to the second-largest or third-largest party, before he clears the way for new elections. This means that for the first time, the far-right Golden Dawn would be able to undertake an attempt to build a government, as they are the third-largest party.
Due to the fact that Pavlopoulos had not yet spoken out as of the early hours of Friday morning when this opinion piece was filed, there was room for speculation. Does the head of state interpret the constitution differently or is a grand coalition still in the works? Or, could it be possible that the opposition within the Syriza party could become the third-strongest party in parliament after they have split off - and if necessary snatch a mandate to form a government, thereby excluding the right-wing radicals? When it comes to Greek politics these days, nothing comes as a surprise anymore.
But the main question remains: Why does Tsipras want to find out once again? The answer is: Because there is no other way. Tsipras has become a party leader without a party after dozens of left-leaning lawmakers withdrew their allegiance to him, meaning that important bills could only be passed with the help of votes from the opposition.
The advantage of a snap election for the left-leaning prime minister is that he can shape his electoral list at his own discretion and sideline those who are working against him. A prompt vote offers the additional attraction that the left-leaning hardliners in Syriza surrounding the former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis would have hardly any time to develop their repeatedly-announced platform against austerity politics and snatch votes from Tsipras. It's not for nothing that Lafazanis loudly complained on Thursday about the extraordinarily short campaign period. And yet for him, the tight campaign period ahead of the recent Greek referendum wasn't fast enough.
What history teaches us
The history of Greece shows that a leftist party is only successful when it finds resonance with the middle class and is headed by a charismatic personality. The Syriza party, led by Tsipras, seems to satisfy these requirements, and the still-under-construction troupe of Lafazanis, probably not. If Tsipras were to use time to his advantage and get rid of the radical elements within Syriza by way of a snap election, his talent in tactical maneuvering would once again be demonstrated. The problem, however, is that the third ballot within seven months doesn't solve a single one of the country's financial issues. Instead, it costs even more money.