After midnight local time, with more than 98% of the ballots counted, Syriza had 36.3% of the vote, trouncing the incumbent New Democracy party, with just 27.8%. The polls also showed voters backed a handful of smaller parties—including the extreme-right Golden Dawn party and the centrist To Potami party.
But in the early hours of Monday, even before the final votes were counted, Syriza officials said a deal had been struck with the Independent Greeks—a party that shares little common ground with Syriza except for its rejection of the austerity measures. The party, which is poised to win 13 seats in Parliament, would mean the coalition would have at least 162 seats—a comfortable governing majority in Greece’s 300-seat legislature.
A meeting between Mr. Tsipras and Independent Greeks party leader Panos Kammenos is scheduled to take place Monday morning, Syriza officials said.
Since first seeking a bailout in 2010, Greece has undertaken broad economic overhauls and cutbacks that have helped mend its public finances and nudged the economy back to growth following six years of deep recession. Those cutbacks have come at a cost: Some 25% of Greeks remain jobless, while a quarter of households live close to the poverty line.
Syriza has promised to change all of that, pledging immediate relief to the poor, rolling back unpopular taxes and negotiating a debt write-down with the country’s creditors to free up spending on social programs.
