EU washes its hands of Greece as it dissolves parliament

ATHENS, Greece, Jan. 2 (UPI) -- Greece dissolved its parliament Wednesday ahead of its elections after it failed to select a president.

Presidential candidate Stavros Dimas lost to the left-wing Syriza party. Syriza claims it will keep digging Greece out of its money problems while remaining in the Eurozone. At the same time, it vowed to renegotiate the bailout deal with the EU and the IMF in order to roll back some of the reforms required by its creditors. It also hopes to have the creditors to write off some of the debts that continue to cripple the country.

The win for the party will have Greece focus on balancing the budget and restoring the Greek economy while trying to tamp down the country's massive debt.

"Syriza's victory in elections will jumpstart a massive national effort to save society and restore Greece," said Syriza's leader Alexis Tsipras.

As required by the constitution, the parliament was dissolved ahead of the special election. Germany and the EU have warned this could spell the end of the rescue efforts from the EU.

"The times when we had to rescue Greece are over," said Michael Fuchs, a senior member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's party in Germany. "There is no longer any potential for blackmail. Greece does not have systemic meaning for the euro."