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The anti-establishment, radical left Syriza party surged to victory in Greece, the first time an anti-austerity protest movement has won a national election in Europe since the 2008 financial crisis shattered the economies of the continent’s Mediterranean flank.
In his victory speech in central Athens on Sunday night, Syriza’s youthful leader, Alexis Tsipras, a former communist, told thousands of jubilant supporters that “Greece leaves behind the austerity that ruined it … leaves behind five years of humiliation.”
He immediately threw down a challenge to the European Union, the main sponsor of the twin bailout packages that spared Greece from bankruptcy but whose demands for austerity – spending cuts and tax hikes – pushed the country into crushing recession. Since the crisis started, the Greek economy has shrunk by 25 per cent and millions of people were pushed into outright poverty.
But before he can launch his assault on the EU’s bailout terms, Mr. Tsipras has to form a government and that, depending on the final vote tally, may require him to form a coalition with a potentially unruly junior party. In the May 2012 election, Syriza was given the opportunity to form a coalition government but couldn’t come through.
His plan, which hinges on negotiating an end to the harsh austerity measures and significant cut in the country’s enormous debt, will inevitably put Greece on a collision course with Germany and the other main funders of the €240-billion in bailout loans. “The Greek government will be willing to collaborate and negotiate with our European counterparts for a fair solution so that Greece can emerge from the vicious circle of debt,” Mr. Tsipras said.
The governor of Germany’s central bank reacted even before Prime Minister Antonis Samaris, leader of the centre-right pro-austerity New Democracy party, conceded defeat. “I hope the new government won’t call into question what is expected and what has already been achieved,” Bundesbank chief Jens Weidmann said.
Syriza’s pre-election popularity and its ousting of the party that Mr. Tsipras dismissed as the lapdog of Greece’s bailout masters, has inspired anti-austerity parties across Europe. Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Podemos, the Syriza look-a-like party in Spain that is leading the polls there, joined Mr. Tsipras on stage for a final rally in Athens. “The wind of democracy that is blowing in Greece is called Syriza, in Spain it’s called Podemos. Hope is coming,” Mr. Iglesias said.
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