Alexis Tsipras plays down fears over snap poll

Former Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras played down fears yesterday that a snap election in two weeks would produce a fractured result, saying there were enough undecided voters to produce a clear winner on the day.

Tsipras resigned last month to make way for the election, hoping to secure a new mandate for a tough austerity programme he agreed in exchange for an €86bn bailout with the cash-starved country’s creditors.

But having started out as the clear frontrunner, his leftist Syriza party’s poll lead has collapsed in the past days, making for an unexpectedly close contest against his main rival, the conservative New Democracy party.