Outgoing Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras signaled on August 26 he would accept an easing of Greece's huge debt burden if he wins elections expected next month without any of the write-offs he has long demanded.
Tsipras, who hopes to return to power with an absolute majority, told Alpha TV that he favored longer repayment periods and lower interest rates on the debt, now that Greece has secured a new 86 billion euro (US$98 billion) bailout.
But in the interview, he made no mention of writing off any debt - a campaign promise when he was elected in January that Germany, the biggest contributor to Greece's three bailouts since 2010, opposes.
With his radical left Syriza party split over the latest bailout, Tsipras heaped praise on his finance minister, Euclid Tsakalotos, and rejected the possibility that his ally may not even run in the election.
President Prokopis Pavlopoulos is expected to call the election on August 27, probably for Sept. 20, an official at the presidency told Reuters. This follows Tsipras's resignation last week when he lost his parliamentary majority due to a rebellion in Syriza ranks over the bailout's demands.
With Greece facing financial collapse and an exit from the euro zone, Tsipras caved in to the zone and IMF earlier this month by accepting their demands for yet more austerity and painful economic reforms - the very policies he had promised to reverse when he won power.
Tsipras has long argued Greece cannot repay all its debt and needs part of it canceled to return to long-term economic growth after a depression, a view shared by many mainstream economists and possibly even the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
