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In the five months since he came to power vowing to deliver his country from years of biting austerity, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has kept Greece and Europe guessing.
For some he is a master strategist who has called the bluff of Greece's creditors by giving the people the final say on a painful debt deal.
To others he is a clueless novice, who has taken Greece into uncharted waters by hurriedly calling a vote that could send the country crashing out of the euro zone.
Tsipras denies playing fast and loose with Greece's future, saying a "No" vote would strengthen Athens's hand in negotiations and that talk of a "Grexit" is nothing more than scaremongering.
As a teen Tsipras was already at the barricades, fighting for students to decide whether to go to classes.
"We want the right to judge for ourselves whether to skip class," he told a TV interviewer while leading a school sit-in at 17.
Twenty-three years later he is throwing out the rule book again. But the Greek public, which cheered his combative approach with creditors at the start of his mandate, is in two minds about whether to stick with him.
And yet, despite his defiant pose and talk of ending twice bailed-out Greece's "humiliation", the 40-year-old leader of the radical leftist Syriza party has made a slew of concessions in fraught talks with his euro-zone counterparts.
He has agreed to continue to cut spending and implement structural reforms, leading former French president Nic-olas Sarkozy to declare with satisfaction that Tsipras had "eaten his hat".
But on June 27, Tsipras drew a line in the sand. Rejecting the additional austerity measures attached to a five-month, €12 billion (HK$103 billion) extension of Greece's bailout programme he took to the airwaves to announce a surprise referendum on the package in a week's time.
"The people must decide free of any blackmail," he declared.
Olivier Delorme, a Franco-Greek historian, said Tsipras "has made endless concessions and each time he has been knocked back".
"By saying 'don't be afraid' and talking of 'dignity restored' he is continuing a leitmotiv of resistance in Greek history," Delorme said, comparing Syriza's approach with Greek rebellion under Ottoman rule.


Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras remains divisive despite victory for 'No' vote

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Photo: AFP

Greek Prime MinisterAlexis Tsipras.Photo: AP

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