Athens, 29 June 2023 (dpa/MIA) - Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Greece's left-wing Syriza party, said he is stepping down as chairman after Syriza's poor showing in Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Tsipras told a press conference in Athens on Thursday that he will not run again in the upcoming executive elections.

Tsipras had suffered a heavy defeat in the May parliamentary election. The Syriza party, with which Tsipras led Greece through the severe financial crisis as prime minister from 2015 to 2019, slumped by more than 11.5 percentage points to 20% of the vote.

In the second election last Sunday, Syriza slipped further to 17.8%.

It was the fifth election in a row that Tsipras had lost. Despite this, he had said that he planned to remain in politics.

"As paradoxical as it seems, the bad election result can also be a new beginning for Syriza," he had said.

The party has been strongly aligned with him since 2012, and a serious successor was never considered.

While there are well-known politicians with leadership potential in the ranks, none has yet made a move for the top job.

So it may be that many party members will make an appeal to Tsipras to remain in the top job.

Photo: Syriza