Markets give ND vote of confidence, while Tsipras says he has heeded message of elections

Insisting that he has heeded the message of Sunday’s resounding defeat in the European Parliament elections, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras urged his party to pick up the pieces and regroup during his address on Monday to SYRIZA’s central and electoral committees.

“The crucial thing in life is not if you will fall, but if you will get up,” Tsipras said. “I want to ask you all today to get up and regroup and fight. We very well know we can do it. Because our main strength is that we are defending what is just, our values, the values of the democratic faction and of the left,” he said.

However, markets reacted enthusiastically to the political developments triggered by Sunday’s result.

The prospect of a New Democracy government was positively evaluated by investors, resulting in the Athens Stock Exchange growing by 6.09 percent and Greek bond yields declining to historically low levels.

The outcome of the election, according to analysts who spoke to Kathimerini, is very positive for the market as it significantly reduces political uncertainty – with Greece expected to soon have a new and very strong government with enough political clout to implement reforms.

ND leader Kyriakos Mitsotakis said Greeks had backed ND due to its “different ethos and style,” as well as its proposed economic program.

“Citizens put their trust in us not only for our basic promises, to reduce taxes and to create good jobs and security for all, but for another ethos and style of power,” he said.

For its part, SYRIZA has already begun a debate over the causes of the defeat.

Former Education Minister Nikos Filis laid the blame on the “demeanor of power” that SYRIZA exhibited and inserted a wedge into the party’s base, while a party source told Kathimerini that SYRIZA must also rid itself of the sort of behavior represented by its controversial Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis.

On the other hand, in an interview on News 24/7 radio, Digital Policy Minister Nikos Pappas blamed the result on low voter turnout compared to elections in 2015 when SYRIZA swept to power. Moreover, behind the scenes, leading party figures have also bemoaned mistakes in strategy – especially regarding the North Macedonia name deal.