Dissenters of Greece's governing Syriza party are breaking away, moving to form their own political party, according to BBC News.
The split was announced Friday, hours after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called early elections in response to his resignation, according to the New York Times. Twenty-five members of the left-wing party broke away.
Those who split from the party were angered by the bailout agreed to by the prime minister, according to Reuters. The resignation announcement on Thursday by the prime minister did nothing to alleviate these tensions.
The anti-bailout party are calling themselves the Popular Unity party, a far leftist group that will take voters away from Tsipras, according to Reuters. These dissenters are pushing the Syriza party closer to the political center, hoping to take control in the upcoming elections.
After the split, only 124 lawmakers were left in the 300-seat parliament. And many believe that more will continue to abandon the Syriza party, according to the New York Times.
The leader of the new Popular Unity party will be former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis, a man largely opposed to the bailout, according to BBC. This newly formed party has become the third largest political party in parliament, with the conservative New Democracy party in second and the Syriza party first with 149 seats occupied.
