On January 25th of this year, Greece's radical left-wing party, SYRIZA, dominated elections and became a new force on the parliamentary floor. They replaced the New Democracy conservatives, and promised to end the austerity measures that have left Greece in an economic crisis for more than five years. The victory finally gave Greeks hope after so many years of instability; yet, SYRIZA is facing criticism for its decisions and backlash from the European ruling class. The former comes from SYRIZA's inability to win the majority in the election (they were a few seats away), and decision to form a coalition with the Independent Greeks, a right-wing anti-austerity party. The latter has become a more pressing issue for SYRIZA, since, according to a Socialist Worker article, the European elite from " Germany's Angela Merkel and Wolfgang Schäuble to Mario Draghi, head of the European Central Bank (ECB), have rejected all proposals to negotiate Greece's huge foreign debt or relax the austerity conditions imposed as a condition for the bailout of the country's economic system." Thus,
the entire basis of SYRIZA's platform could be undermined, or even dismantled.
It is becoming increasingly difficult for SYRIZA, as Greece's international lenders continue to take a hard line with the new party. If such powerful countries like Germany are trembling in the wake of SYRIZA's victory, the party is doing something right. Despite its struggles, there is no denying that this is a huge step forward for the left; that is something we cannot lose sight of. Any sort of success within the left challenges the global capitalist system, which is something the elites of the world, like Angela Merkel and Mario Draghi, depend on. For a party like SYRIZA, there is an expectation that there will be hardship. The party is challenging European austerity politics, and could inspire solidarity from the working class across all of Europe. With those kinds of numbers, each country in Europe could seem the same revolutionary upheaval like that in Greece.
by Nikki Camera
THE STRUGGLE
FOR SYRIZA