January 26, 2015

Syriza: a new political vision for Greece (and Europe).

editor:	Gurmeet Singh

Syriza, the radical-left party of Greece will form the nation’s new government, in coalition with members of the Independent Greeks; leader Alexis Tsipras will be asked by the presidential palace to take up his position as Prime Minister of Greece.

Many commentators have already weighed in on what this portends for Greece and the wider European political scene, very often in distinctly economic terms (anti-austerity being the apparent raison d’etre of Syriza): some are positive, some in the middle, others, however are not convinced. The immediate impact of the result was to send the Euro plummeting, which I understand is currently recovering, albeit very slowly. Many commentators are displeased at what they consider to be an undue upset in already unstable European markets. The Euro, a flagging currency, will be further destabilised they claim- that’s all- the actual impact of Syriza on Europe will not be significant in the long-term, and the party’s radical left agenda will fail to offer a serious challenge to Brussels.

However, the preceding interpretations of Syriza’s victory only consider the economic perspective of the party’s win. That’s clearly unsurprising given the nature of the recessions that have afflicted the country for almost eight years now. However, to assess the immediate impact of the victory in purely economic terms misses its true significance. Syriza’s victory is a victory for social justice: they stand for anti-austerity which might not be inherently socially just, but in a nation where corruption is both widespread and well-known, anti-austerity places the burden of recharging the economy back onto privileged shoulders. As well as confronting systematic corruption, the party will challenge tax evasion, and will fight against the growing tide of right-wing extremism.

All of this will bolster radical-left groups across Europe who have thus far been so marginalised that the only other nation in which they have a significant presence is in Spain. Pablo Iglesias, leader of Spain’s Podemos party has already stated that the victory will encourage a Renaissance of socially-equitable reformist movements to challenge the agenda of austerity and right-leaning politics across Europe.

And that’s how to assess this victory, rather than merely the impact on the economy; itself a vision of Europe and politics so drastically utilitarian that it reduces nations and people to mere beneficiaries or victims of an inviolable neo-liberal doctrine. We have yet to see if Syriza is able to deliver on its promises for social equity, but the victory itself shows that the status quo can be challenged.

Image: Alexis Tsipiras by Louisa Gouliamaki/AFP/Getty Images