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|european = [[Party of the European Left]] (member), [[European Anticapitalist Left]] (observer)
|european = [[Party of the European Left]] (member), [[European Anticapitalist Left]] (observer)
|europarl = [[European United Left–Nordic Green Left]]
|europarl = [[European United Left–Nordic Green Left]]
|colours = [[Pink]]
|colours = [[Red]], [[Green]], [[Purple]]
|website = [http://www.syriza.gr www.syriza.gr]
|website = [http://www.syriza.gr www.syriza.gr]
|seats1_title = [[Hellenic Parliament|Parliament]]
|seats1_title = [[Hellenic Parliament|Parliament]]

Revision as of 06:26, 24 May 2012

Syriza
LeaderAlexis Tsipras
Founded2004
Headquarters1 Eleftherias Square,
105 53 Athens,
Greece
IdeologyDemocratic socialism[1]
Eco-socialism[1][2]
Anti-capitalism[1]
Alter-globalization[2]
Political positionLeft-wing[2][3][4]
Far-left[5][6][7]
European affiliationParty of the European Left (member), European Anticapitalist Left (observer)
European Parliament groupEuropean United Left–Nordic Green Left
International affiliationNone
ColoursRed, Green, Purple
Parliament
52 / 300
European Parliament
1 / 22
Regions [8]
17 / 725
Website
www.syriza.gr

The Coalition of the Radical Left (Template:Lang-el), abbreviated SYRIZA (Template:Lang-el, punning on σύρριζα, sýrrhiza, meaning "to the roots"), is a coalition of left-wing and far-left[5] political parties in Greece. Its parliamentary leader is Alexis Tsipras, the president of Synaspismos, the largest party in the coalition. The coalition contains a broad-array of groups, thirteen in total and independent politicians; this includes democratic socialists and green left groups to Maoist, Trotskyist and eurocommunist organisations.

History

Formation

Although SYRIZA was formally launched before the legislative election of 2004, the roots of the process that led to its formation can be traced back to the Space for Dialogue for the Unity and Common Action of the Left (Greek: Χώρος Διαλόγου για την Ενότητα και Κοινή Δράση της Αριστεράς) in 2001.[9] The "Space" was composed of various organizations of the Greek Left that, despite different ideological and historical backgrounds, had shared common political action in several important issues that had arisen in Greece at the end of the 1990s, such as the Kosovo War, privatizations, social rights, etc.

The "Space" provided the common ground from which the participating parties could work together on issues such as:

Even though the "Space" was not a political organization, but rather an effort to bring together the parties and organizations that attended, it gave birth to some electoral alliances for the local election of 2002,[11] the most successful being the one led by Manolis Glezos for the super-prefecture of Athens-Piraeus. The "Space" also provided the common ground from which several of the member parties and organizations launched the Greek Social Forum,[12] part of the larger European Social Forum.

2004 general election

The defining moment for the birth of SYRIZA came with the legislative election of 2004. Most of the participants of the "Space", sought to develop a common platform that could lead to an electoral alliance.[13] This led to the eventual formation of the Coalition of the Radical Left, in January 2004.[14]

The parties that originally formed the Coalition of the Radical Left in January 2004 were:

Although the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE) had participated in the "Space", it decided not to take part in the Coalition.[15]

In the election, the Coalition gathered 241,539 votes (3.3% of the total) and elected six members to parliament. All six were members of Synaspismos, the largest of the coalition parties. This led to much tension within the Coalition.

Crisis and revitalization

Alekos Alavanos

After the 2004 election, the smaller parties accused Synaspismos of not honoring an agreement, to have one of its members of parliament resign so that Yannis Banias of AKOA would take his seat.[16] Tension built up and resulted in the split of the Internationalist Workers Left and the formation of Kokkino, both of which remained within the Coalition. The frame of the crisis within SYRIZA was the reluctance of Synaspismos to adopt and keep the political agreement for a clear denial of "centre-left politics".

Three months after the legislative election, Synaspismos chose to run independently from the rest of the Coalition for the 2004 elections for the European Parliament and some of the smaller parties of the Coalition supported the feminist Women for Another Europe (Greek: Γυναίκες για μια Άλλη Ευρώπη) list.[17]

The crisis ended in December 2004 with the 4th convention of Synaspismos, when the large majority within the party voted for the revitalization of the Coalition.[18] This change of attitude was further intensified with the election of Alekos Alavanos, a staunch supporter of the Coalition,[19] as president of Synaspismos, after its former leader, Nikos Konstantopoulos stepped down.

The Coalition solidified further with the successful organization of the 4th European Social Forum in May 2006 in Athens, as well as with a number of largely successful coalition tickets, such as in Athens and Piraeus, for the 2006 local election. The ticket for the municipality of Athens was led by the 30 year old Alexis Tsipras, proposed by Alavanos who declared Synaspismos's "opening to the new generation".

2007 general election

File:Syrza 2007 impossible.jpg
Poster of the Coalition for the 2007 election

The Coalition of the Radical Left was the big surprise in the 2007 Greek legislative election (16 September 2007), increasing their votes by 120,000 and gaining an unexpected 5,04%. Opinion polls had already indicated that the Coalition was expected to make significant gains in the election, with predictions ranging from 4% to 5% of the electorate.[20]

Prior to the election, in 22 June, the participating parties had agreed on a common declaration. The signed Declaration of the Coalition of the Radical Left, outlined the common platform on which the Coalition would compete in the following election and outlined the basis for the political alliance.[21]

The Coalition of 2007 has also expanded from its original composition in 2004. On 20 June 2007, the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE) announced its participation into the Coalition.[22] On August 21 the environmentalist Ecological Intervention (Greek: Οικολογική Παρέμβαση), also joined,[23] and on 22 August 2007, the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI), also announced its own participation to the Coalition.[24]

On 2 September the Areios Pagos refused to include the title of DIKKI in the electoral alliance of SYRIZA claiming that the internal procedures followed by DIKKI were flawed. This was criticised furiously by SYRIZA and DIKKI as inappropriate interference in party political activity on behalf of the courts.[25]

More recent developments

In 27 November 2007, Alavanos announced that he would not apply for a renewal of his presidency of Synaspismos, for private reasons.[26] The 5th party congress of Synaspismos elected 33 year old Alexis Tsipras, a municipal councillor for the municipality of Athens, as party president in 10 February 2008. Alavanos retained the parliamentary leadership of SYRIZA, however, as Tsipras was not at that time a member of parliament. Tsipras achieved considerable popularity with the Greek electorate, which led to a significant increase in support for SYRIZA in opinion polls, up to 18 percent at its peak.[27]

At the end of June 2008, Xekinima announced that it would join the coalition.[28]

During the run-up to the 2009 European Parliament election SYRIZA, amid turbulent internal developments, saw its polling numbers dive to 4.7%, with the result that only one SYRIZA candidate (Nikos Hountis) was elected to the European Parliament. This caused renewed internal strife, leading to the resignation of former Synaspismos president Alekos Alavanos from his seat in the Greek parliament, a resignation that was however recalled in a few days.[29]

In the Greek legislative election in October 2009, SYRIZA won 4.6% of the vote (slightly less than its 2007 showing), returning 13 MPs. These included Tsipras, who took over as SYRIZA's parliamentary leader.

In June 2010, the Ananeotiki ("Renewing Wing") of radical social democrats in Synapsismos split away from the party, at the same time leaving SYRIZA. This reduced SYRIZA's parliamentary group to 9 MPs. The 4 MPS who left formed a new party, the Democratic Left.

In a move of voters away from the parties which participated in the coalition government under the premiership of Lucas Papademos in November 2011, SYRIZA gained popular support in the opinion polls (as did the Communist Party of Greece and the Democratic Left). Opinion polls in the run-up to the May 2012 election showed SYRIZA with 10-12% support.[30] The minor Unitary Movement (a PASOK splinter) also joined the Coalition in March 2012.

In legislative elections in May 2012, the party quadrupled its number of seats becoming the second largest party in parliament, behind New Democracy. After the election, party officials rejected an offer to form a coalition government with pro-austerity parties.[31]

Participating parties

Coalition supporters in a 2007 rally. Flags of Synaspismos, AKOA, DIKKI and Kokkino, as well as of the Coalition itself can be seen.

With the aforementioned additions, the Coalition currently comprises the following parties (in alphabetical order):[32]

Electoral results

Results since 2004
(year links to election page)
Year Type of election Votes % MP
2004
Parliament
241,539
3.26%
6
2007
Parliament
361,211
5.04%
14
2009
European Parliament
240,898
4.70%
1
2009
Parliament
315,627
4.60%
13 (later 9)
2012
Parliament
1,061,265
16.78%
52

Parliamentary representation

The SYRIZA currently occupies 11 seats in the Greek parliament. Given that the coalition's support is higher in the major cities, most of their MPs come from the metropolitan areas of Athens, Piraeus and Thessalonica.

The 4 MPs elected under the flag of SYRIZA in the last elections, who in June 2010 left it to form the Democratic Left, were:

European parliament

The SYRIZA holds 1 seat in the European parliament

References

  1. ^ a b c Nordsieck, Wolfram, "Greece", Parties and Elections in Europe, retrieved 15 March 2012
  2. ^ a b c d Backes, Uwe; Moreau, Patrick (2008), Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europe, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, pp. 571–575 Cite error: The named reference "BackesMoreau" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  3. ^ Magone, José M. (2011), Contemporary European Politics: A Comparative Introduction, Routledge, p. 450
  4. ^ McNally, David (2011), Global Slump: The Economics and Politics of Crisis and Resistance, PM Press, p. 172
  5. ^ a b "Greece crisis: Far left Syriza pulls out of talks", BBC, retrieved 14 May 2012 {{citation}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); no-break space character in |accessdate= at position 3 (help)
  6. ^ Nikolas, Katerina, "Greece: Latest polls shows clear lead for far-left Syriza", Digital Journal, retrieved 13 May 2012
  7. ^ "Greece's far-left Tsipras puts rescue deal in doubt", France 24, retrieved 9 May 2012
  8. ^ The counselors of the Regions.
  9. ^ "Press conference of the "Space"". Synaspismos. 2001-05-15. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  10. ^ Overcoming division, article by Georges Mitralias, June 2001
  11. ^ "A catalogue of such electoral alliances". Η Εποχή. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  12. ^ "Greek Social Forum". Hellenic Social Forum. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  13. ^ Synaspismos press release, 17 December 2003
  14. ^ 15/01/2004 Article from the Greek language edition of the BBC
  15. ^ KOE press release, February 2004
  16. ^ 28/09/2004 article by the newspaper Epohi
  17. ^ 23/05/2004 article by the newspaper Epohi
  18. ^ Chapter 9 of the Political Decisions of the 4th convention of Synaspismos
  19. ^ Alavanos' main convention speech at the convention
  20. ^ See the relevant Wikipedia entry
  21. ^ Full text of the Declaration
  22. ^ "Στον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ προσχώρησε η Κομμουνιστική Οργάνωση Ελλάδας". in.gr. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  23. ^ Ecological Intervention press release[dead link]
  24. ^ DIKKI press release[dead link]
  25. ^ 2/9/2007 DIKKI press release[dead link]
  26. ^ "Synaspismos press release". Synaspismos. 2007-11-27. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  27. ^ Governing New Democrats Still Lead in Greece, Angus Reid article.
  28. ^ Χριστίνα Ζιάκα (2008-06-10). "Απόφαση του Ξεκινήματος για συμμετοχή στο Συριζα" (in Greek). Ξεκίνημα. Retrieved 2008-06-15.
  29. ^ "Alavanos reverses decision". HR-Net. 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2012-05-17.
  30. ^ Next Greek legislative election
  31. ^ "Greek radical left leader rejects coalition talks: official". Reuters. 2012-05-13. Retrieved 2012-05-18.
  32. ^ List of participants from the Coalition's website[dead link]
  33. ^ Anagnostou, Dia (2006), "Deepening Democracy or Defending the Nation? The Europeanisation of Minority Rights and Greek Citizenship", Politics and Policy in Greece, Routledge, p. 128
  34. ^ "Greece: Directory", Central and South-Eastern Europe 2004, Europa Publications, p. 294, 2003
  35. ^ a b c Magone, José M. (2003), The Politics of Southern Europe: Integration into the European Union, Praeger Publishers, p. 152
  36. ^ Magone, José M. (2003), The Politics of Southern Europe: Integration into the European Union, Praeger Publishers, p. 151
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