Greek PM resigns after 7 months in office

Following huge economic debts, pressure on the Greek economy, and a successful bailout, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has announced his resignation.

Tsipras announced his decision to step aside after securing a bailout for the debt-struck country, in opposition to members of his own party, who withstood the economic reforms that European lenders demanded for Greece’s latest bailout.

In the same speech, the 41-year-old who became prime minister on January 26, 2015, called for a swift election in leading the country forward.

“With your vote, you will decide who will lead Greece into this difficult but hopeful (path forward),” he said in a televised address.

“I will ask for the vote of the Greek people in order to govern and unfold our program.”

After Tsipras’ address, he met with President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, to whom he was expected to hand his resignation, with hopes for a swift election date.

Tsipras adds that he is proud of the fresh bailout worth as much as 86 billion euros ($95 billion) he got for Greece.

The bailout, which helps prevent Greece’s exit from the euro currency, is the country’s third in roughly five years, CNN reports.

Greece received the first instalment of the latest bailout – 26 billion euros ($29.1 billion) on Thursday and made a 3.2 billion euro ($3.6 billion) loan repayment to the European Central Bank.