How did Syriza win Greece's January 2015 parliamentary election?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

Syriza’s victory in the January 2015 parliamentary election was driven by widespread public disenchantment with the austerity measures imposed on Greece during its debt crisis.

Following the failure of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy (ND) party to secure parliamentary approval for his presidential candidate in December 2014, the parliament was dissolved, triggering a snap election. Alexis Tsipras led Syriza to a decisive victory, capturing approximately 36 percent of the vote compared to about 28 percent for ND.

This success followed a period of rising political momentum for the party, which had previously won the May 2014 elections to the European Parliament. Upon winning the January 2015 election, Tsipras formed a coalition government with the Independent Greeks, another anti-austerity party, and assumed the office of prime minister on January 26, 2015.12