Greek government has mandate for reforms, European Commission says

The new Greek government has a mandate to carry out the reforms the country agreed upon with its international lenders in July, the European Commission said on Monday.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras stormed back into office with an unexpectedly decisive election victory.

Tsipras and his Syriza party fell just shy of an outright majority but will form a coalition with his former partners, the small right-wing Independent Greeks party

European Commission Chief Spokesman Margaritis Schinas recalled that Tspiras and his Syriza party secured a new bailout deal and averted ‘Grexit’ – a Greek exit from the euro zone – last July after ditching his anti-austerity platform and pledging to carry out reforms, which includes more tax rises and pensions cuts, while promising to introduce measures to protect vulnerable groups.

“It was under the leadership of (Greek Prime Minister) Alexis Tsipras that Greece already committed to an ambitious programme of reforms to redress the Greek economy and bring back Greece to the path of jobs and growth,” Schinas said.

Schinas said the election results meant that Tsipras received the popular support he needed to carry out the reform programme.

“The new government will now have the mandate to carry out these reforms. As in the past, the Commission and President Juncker stand ready to help. There is a lot of work ahead and no time to lose,” he added.

By demonstrating his government’s willingness to reform and gaining the country’s creditors trust, Tsipras is willing to secure debt relief in his “first and most important battle”.

Tsipras – along with most Greek political leaders and many international economists – argues that the country cannot recover from years of crisis without easing its huge debt burden.

But easing Greece’s debt burden is just one of many items on a dauntingly long “to do” list ranging from how to revive a crippled economy while implementing austerity polices to dealing with the wave of migrants landing on Greek shores.

In Sunday’s election voters gave Tsipras and his Syriza party a second chance to tackle Greece’s problems.

The extent of the win means that, rather than needing a patchwork of partners, Syriza will be able to govern with only a single ally, the Independent Greeks.

The small right-wing party was also the junior partner in the Tsipras coalition which governed for seven turbulent months until he resigned last month, forcing the election.

With society fractured by years of austerity, Tsipras wants to build a broader consensus as he tries to steer Greece through the tough reforms demanded by the euro zone in the bailout agreement – the country’s third.

With the first review of the bailout programme due next month, Tsipras must work fast to oversee a recapitalisation of the country’s banks – closed for three weeks at the height of the summer crisis and still subject to capital controls – while trying to stave off a recession and tackling the migrant crisis.

His first international summit is on Wednesday in Brussels to discuss the hundreds of thousands of refugees and migrants pouring into Europe, many via Greek islands that border Turkey.