GREECE, SYRIZA & the TROIKA - 2015

[Oscar]

The History Of Syriza: How A Small Party Came To Power

[ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/2 ... 47798.html ]

HuffPost Greece | By Κατερίνα Πρίφτη

Posted: 01/27/2015 11:32 am EST Updated: 01/27/2015 11:59 am EST

To understand the historic magnitude of the victory of Syriza, the far-left party that won Greece's election on Sunday, take a look at their slogan: “For the first time, the Left in government.” This slogan is emblematic of the tremendous difficulties Syriza overcame in order to achieve its current political prominence, rooted in the turbulent history of the Greek left.

The history of the left in Greece can be understood as a cycle of creation and destruction. It is common practice among older generations to talk about the “curse of the left,” because even though it has shown that it can be victorious when united, it has often been plagued with infighting.

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Today, the leader of the united party is Alexis Tsipras, and the symbol of the party is the five-pointed star, a symbol of unity, along with three flags: a red one for the classic left, a Greek one for the ecological movement and a purple one that represents other social movements that Syriza embraces, such as feminism, migrant rights and gay rights.

The founding declaration of Syriza contains references to Greece's agreement with its creditors -- the “troika” of the IMF, European Commission and the European Central Bank -- as well as harsh austerity measures and the humanitarian crisis resulting from a catastrophic unemployment rate. The party's objective is described as:

“Always struggling for unity among the Left, the now united Syriza asserts a government of the Left with a new, broad and strong social majority that will allow for the people's interests to be served. The chants that the people shouted on the streets and in the squares, ‘Man over profits’ and ‘Another world is possible,’ are turned into a political and strategic goal through Syriza.”

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Greece’s Syriza may have little choice but to comply with the Troika

[ http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-o ... e22633618/ ]

ERIC REGULY - EUROPEAN BUREAU CHIEF ATHENS — The Globe and Mail

Published Monday, Jan. 26 2015, 5:18 AM EST Last updated Tuesday, Jan. 27 2015, 5:32 AM EST

Europe’s biggest challenge to austerity economics began in earnest Monday, when Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras was sworn in as prime minister and recruited a coalition partner that shares its fierce anti-austerity views.

Syriza won the Sunday election with a pledge to end the austerity demanded by Greece’s international creditors, known as the Troika, and write off a chunk of its debt. But on Sunday and Monday, after Mr. Tsipras provocatively announced that the deal with the Troika was “a thing of the past,” representatives of the creditor countries were quick to warn Syriza not to get its hopes up.

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The determination by Syriza to overhaul Greece’s bailout terms and the apparently equal determination by the Troika – the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – to resist an overhaul will inevitably put the two sides on a collision course. The question is whether a face-saving compromise can be found.

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Syriza won 36.3 per cent of the voting, handing it 149 seats in the Greek parliament, two short of a majority. Within hours of his victory speech, Mr. Tsipras formed an alliance with Independent Greeks, a small party that won 4.7 per cent of the vote and 13 seats. If the alliance is formalized, the ruling coalition will have 162 seats. A clear majority is crucial because Syriza will no doubt have dissenting voters within its own party on some critical issues.

Syriza and Independent Greeks make odd partners. The latter is a right-wing party that shares little with Syriza other than a staunch commitment to end the austerity measures that each blamed for pushing Greece into a depression that saw its economy shrink by at least 25 per cent after the 2008 financial crisis.

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Alexis Tsipras: Troika Belongs in the Past Politics

[ http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/01 ... -the-past/ ]

by A. Makris - Jan 25, 2015 -

Commenting on his party’s success in today’s general elections, SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras, addressing supporters at a big caucus held in downtown Athens, Greece, said that the Greek people gave SYRIZA a clear mandate and sent a clear message that austerity and the Troika of the country’s lenders belong in the past.

“Today we celebrate, tomorrow we start the hard work,” Tsipras said after the results were announced. He said the verdict of the Greek people clearly rejects austerity.

“Today was a defeat for Greece of the elites and the oligarchs. Greece that works and hopes, won.” He promised a way out of the “vicious cycle” of debt. “The new Greek government will prove wrong all those who thought we would fail,” he said.

He promised to restore popular sovereignty and clash with corruption. “We regain hope, optimism and dignity,” Tsipras added.

Punching the air, Tsipras told the crowd: “Today the Greek people have written history. Hope has written history… Greece is turning the page. Greece is leaving the austerity of catastrophe and fear… There are no losers and winners. Those who have been defeated are the elite and the oligarchs… We are regaining our dignity, our sovereignty again.”


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Greek Minister of Transparency Vows to Fight Corruption

[ http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/02 ... orruption/ ]

by Philip Chrysopoulos - Feb 18, 2015

Nikoloudis is not a politician, however he was appointed by the new leftist SYRIZA-led government to fight one of Greece’s major plights: corruption.

The supreme court prosecutor who is now Minister of Transparency and Anti-Corruption is a specialist in economic crime and he is in tune with the new government’s plan to battle corruption and the rich businessmen and wealthy families, the “oligarchs,”who have been exploiting state wealth and influencing Greek politics in the past few decades.

According to an extensive Reuters report, the 65-year-old prosecutor spoke in the Greek parliament last week, denouncing the elite of a “handful of families who think that the state and public service exists to service their own interests.”

These families and individuals win lucrative state contracts, run television stations without a license, receive “crony” bank loans, smuggle oil, profit from shady state privatizations and evade taxes worth billions cumulatively, usually via offshore company accounts.

Mr. Nikoloudis is in tune with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis who have both expressed their will to “destroy oligarchy.”

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SYRIZA Nominates Prokopis Pavlopoulos for Greek Presidency Politics

[ http://greece.greekreporter.com/2015/02 ... of-greece/ ]

by Aggelos Skordas - Feb 17, 2015

Just moments earlier, former New Democracy Interior Minister Prokopis Pavlopoulos was nominated for the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic by Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

Pavlopoulos may be elected on the first ballot, which according to the Greek Constitution requires 180 votes. Apart from the coalition government partners, SYRIZA and Independent Greeks (ANEL), New Democracy also expressed support of his nomination. According to Tsipras, the broadest possible consensus is needed to overcome the country’s difficulties. “We live the birth of a new era. Today, more than ever, unity in society, politics and states is necessary,” the Greek Premier highlighted.

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