Alexis Tsipras’ Syriza party has miraculously emerged as a clear winner in Greece’s fifth election in six years. The leftwing party first came to power earlier this year on the back of promising to implement an anti-austerity programme, and its victory generated a great amount of optimism amongst the Greek people who felt alienated by the policies of previous governments who had contributed to the country’s ailments since 2009. However, after months of spirited negotiations and a referendum in favour rejecting stifling bailout terms, Tsipras was forced to concede to the troika of the European Union, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) in order to prevent a potentially catastrophic Greek exit from the Eurozone. As a consequence, his party’s hardcore members rebelled and Syriza’s leadership felt it needed a new mandate from the people, now that the austerity measures they had previously rejected were going to be a reality. In light of this remarkable u-turn, Syriza’s second comfortable victory in the same year has surprised all political commentators, with the party winning 145 out of 300 seats, and making a coalition government with the nationalist Independent Greek party which won 10 seats. The shockingly small political cost Tsipras had to pay for reneging on his promises can be explained by the fact that the public still perceives him as the best option available to lead the country. Whether they are happy or unhappy with his policies, there seems to be an implicit trust placed in him by the public at large. The displeasure of the public against mainstream political parties like the rightwing New Democracy has stuck, and the Greek people feel that the first Tsipras government at least put up a dignified fight whereas the pro-austerity parties were perceived as eager to swallow the terms and conditions handed out by the troika. However, while Tsipras may have won this election owing to his personal charisma and a distinct impression that Syriza’s heart is not with the bailout programme but it accepted the conditions on pragmatic grounds, the true challenge lies ahead. October promises to be a critical month as a new budget with cuts promised is to be presented to the troika in order to release funds as per the bailout agreement. Greece’s new government may resemble its last one, but the stakes have changed. The Greek public is counting on Tsipras to mitigate the harmful impact of the terms of the 86 billion Euros bailout on the population, but he has a great balancing act to play between the people and the creditors, who are wary of Syriza starting another bout of negotiations. Another Europe-wide problem, the refugee crisis, has particularly engulfed Greece since many Greek islands are the first landing sites for the migrants. All in all, the Greek situation remains dismal and Tsipras will no doubt cut his celebrations short to get to down to work. *