The economic crisis in Greek has forced the nation’s prime minister to resign.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras announced he will resign and call for new national elections in September.  The move is seen as an attempt to thwart more radical members of his own party from stopping the economic reforms that were required as part of the nation’s latest bailout package.

“I am resigning because I have now exhausted the mandate which the public gave me in January’s general election,” Tsipras said in a national address.  “You will judge us, the ones that promoted the drachma pathway and the ones that served the old system.”

While some government sources are saying the elections would take place on September 20th, Tsipras did not give a specific date in his national address.

Opinion polls show that Tsipras is the current favorite to regain his position as PM.

In the interim, the nation’s first female PM will take over on a temporary basis.  Vassiliki Thanou-Christophilou, the President of the Supreme Court of Greece, will be in charge of the government until a new PM is chosen.

The announcement had an immediate impact on the nation’s economy, as Greek bonds suffered an immediate drop.