{"id":470,"date":"2007-09-23T20:52:29","date_gmt":"2007-09-23T20:52:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/?p=470"},"modified":"2021-03-03T18:11:15","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T18:11:15","slug":"elections-in-greece-positive-results-for-the-left","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/2007\/09\/23\/elections-in-greece-positive-results-for-the-left\/","title":{"rendered":"Elections in Greece: Positive Results for the Left"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>YK analyses the Greek election results and addresses the prospects and tasks for socialists<\/h2>\n<p>That the Greek parliament would be significantly different, as a result of the 16th September elections, was more or less common knowledge in Greece. There had been three and a half years of extreme government incompetence and quite shocking scandals. These included the telephone surveillance case<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_1');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_1');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_1\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[1]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_1\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><cite><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Greek_wiretapping_case_2004%E2%80%9305\">For a fairly good piece on this, see the wikipedia entry<\/a><\/cite><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, and the abduction of Pakistani men by British agents<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_2');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_2');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_2\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[2]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_2\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><cite><a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/europe\/4526502.stm\">Greek society was in the dark about this, until it was uncovered by the <acronym title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\">BBC<\/acronym><\/a><\/cite><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>, both having serious implications on national sovereignty; as well as increasing incidents of police brutality, especially during the student protests against the proposed educational reform. All this ensured that support for the conservative government of Nea Demokratia (<acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym>, New Democracy), would retreat significantly from the 45.36% of the vote tallied in 2004 and the strong absolute majority of 165 out 300 parliamentary seats this guaranteed. Moreover, the fact that the whole of the rather short campaigning period took place under the shadow, or better, under the eerie glare of a large part of the country being ravaged by wild fires, which were anything but accidental, made certain that there would be a significant protest vote gained by the far left and, to a lesser extent, the far right.<\/p>\n<p>This happened more or less as expected, with <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> suffering a loss of 3.52% and 13 seats, which significantly decreased their parliamentary power, leaving them with a very slight majority of only 152 seats. Meanwhile, the combined far left vote increased by 4.04% to 13.19%. <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> (the Communist Party) gathered an impressive 8.15% (+2.26) of the vote returning 22 <acronym title=\"Member of Parliament\">MP<\/acronym>s (+10), while <acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym> (Coalition of the Radical Left), with 5.04% (+1.78) returned 14 <acronym title=\"Member of Parliament\">MP<\/acronym>s (+8). In large cities, the gains made by the left were significantly higher, with, for example, <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> reaching 14.55% in the V\u2019 Peiraios district and <acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym> 9.27% in A\u2019 Athinon. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the far right <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> (Popular Orthodox Rally) entered Parliament for the first time, tallying 3.80% (+1.61) and winning 10 seats.<\/p>\n<p>What was more surprising is the serious setback suffered by <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> (Panhellenic Socialist Movement, the Greek equivalent of the Labour Party). Support for the <acronym title=\"Social Democrat Party\">SPD<\/acronym>-style Social Democrats retreated below the level of the 2004 election to 38.10 % (102 <acronym title=\"Member of Parliament\">MP<\/acronym>s, -2.45%), the lowest in more than 20 years<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_3');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_3');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_3\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[3]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_3\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><cite><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.ekloges.ypes.gr\/pages_en\/index.html<\/span> See the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation website for an analytical breakdown of electoral results.<\/a><\/cite><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_3').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_3', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>.<\/p>\n<p>The emerging picture is that of a clear shift of popular support away from the two large bourgeois parties towards radical smaller forces. Whether this is just an isolated protest vote, or the beginning of a more long term trend pointing to an intensification of class struggle, remains to be seen. What is certain however is that Greek society has become far more receptive to more radical politics. This means that an increasing amount of space will be opening up for the far left to organise in the near future. Before going into what the immediate tasks of the Greek left are, it would be useful to provide some background on the parties currently in Parliament, which it would be fair to say, will be the prime forces shaping Greek politics in the next four years (unless of course a revolution happens, workers\u2019 councils spontaneously spring up and the dictatorship of the proletariat is established, but I wouldn\u2019t be getting my hopes up for that).<\/p>\n<h2>The Parties<\/h2>\n<h3>Nea Demokratia<\/h3>\n<p>Nea Demokratia was founded by Konstadinos Karamanlis, the first post-dictatorship Prime Minister of Greece. It is the traditional party of Greek capital and its satellite strata. Unlike most centre-right parties, it is not a group of right wing liberals, but on the contrary, includes a variety of rightists from David Cameron-like <q>modern<\/q> fluffy conservatives, to intensely ideological, ultra religious xenophobic cavemen like the former Minister of Public Order. He used to refer to riot police as the <q>praetorian guard of the country<\/q>. The party is currently led by Kostas Karamanlis, the founder\u2019s nephew, who seems to have been placed at the helm more for his name than his political skills.<\/p>\n<p>Right after emerging victorious, Karamanlis restructured the government, removing extremely unpopular ministers, like the aforementioned Public Order brute from their posts (in fact, the Public Order ministry was abolished), in an obvious effort to rebuild the party\u2019s citizen friendly image. However, this does not in any way mean that there will be any large scale retreat from the aggressive neo-liberal policies <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> has been pursuing against the exploited working people of Greek society with the tacit support of <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym>. Nevertheless, its significantly weakened position in Parliament is bound to make the party far more responsive to social movement pressure.<\/p>\n<h3><acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym><\/h3>\n<p>Above, I described <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> as <acronym title=\"Social Democrat Party\">SPD<\/acronym>-style social-democrats. The reason I did so is that, like the <acronym title=\"Social Democrat Party\">SPD<\/acronym>, <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> has been on an increasingly right wing trajectory without however having been transformed (yet) into a fully fledged neo-Thatcherite party like New Labour. The similarities however, end here. Unlike both Labour and <acronym title=\"Social Democrat Party\">SPD<\/acronym>, <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> did not arise organically out of the struggle of the working class, it did not emerge as the political wing of the trade union movement and was definitely never a radical socialist political force.<\/p>\n<p>The party, or movement as they style themselves, was founded, following the collapse of the Colonels\u2019 Dictatorship in late 1974, by Andreas Papandreou, son of the prominent classical liberal politician Georgios Papandreou. From the very beginning, the social basis of <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> lay in the radical wings of the petty and national bourgeoisie. Its early policy platform was clearly populist left nationalist, and in that manner, they share a lot with the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, although Greece\u2019s independent status makes it difficult to draw further parallels. However, like the <acronym title=\"Scottish National Party\">SNP<\/acronym>, precisely because <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> lacks a deep, organic working class basis, it has been able to engage in a series of political u-turns, like dropping withdrawal from both <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organisation\">NATO<\/acronym> and <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym> as a policy immediately upon winning the 1981 elections. For this same reason however, it is also far easier for the working class sections that do support <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> to abandon it.<\/p>\n<p>The current leader of the <q>movement<\/q> is Giorgos Papandreou, son of the founder, who acceded to the presidency shortly before the 2004 elections. He became leader in an effort to rebuild party popularity after 8 years of neo-liberal <q>modernisation<\/q>, under Costas Simitis, had severely eroded its support basis. Despite employing populist rhetoric and conjuring his father\u2019s ghost on every opportunity, Papandreou has failed to stop <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym>\u2019s bleeding of support to the left. After defeat in the latest elections had become evident, he announced that he would be seeking re-election as president. However, shortly after that, Evagelos Venizelos, who while popular within <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym>, is considered to be on the conservative wing of the party, also announced his candidacy. Elections are to be held sometime in November.<\/p>\n<h3><acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym><\/h3>\n<p><acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> is a strange case. While it would be fair to say that it is a far right wing party, its perception by many as fascist is rather mistaken. <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> was founded by former <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> member and <acronym title=\"Member of Parliament\">MP<\/acronym>, Giorgos Karatzaferis, following his expulsion in 2000. Since then, <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> has engaged in a number of extremely haphazard political manoeuvres, adopting policies in what seems to be an entirely random manner. Its contradictions are evident on a daily basis, with prominent members promoting books that supposedly debunk the \u201cmyth\u201d that there was any homosexuality in ancient Greece, while Karatzaferis himself has stated that homophobia must be fought and voted in favour of the European Parliament resolution on homophobia in Europe. Furthermore, while <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> maintains that there are too many immigrants in Greece, Karatzaferis has often rejected nationalism as an idea, describing himself as a patriot and an enemy of globalization instead. Further, while members of <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> have often made anti-semitic comments, Karatzaferis has signed the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym> motion on anti-semitism<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_4');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_4');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_4\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[4]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_4\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/sides\/getDoc.do?pubRef=-\/\/EP\/\/TEXT+MOTION+B6-2005-0079+0+DOC+XML+V0\/\/EN&amp;language=EN\">The content of the motion can be found here<\/a><\/cite><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_4').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_4', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> while official party literature denounces marginalisation on any grounds and makes it clear that <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> respects all nations and religions. If anything, <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> has only diluted the far right in Greece, pulling it towards a more moderate direction.<\/p>\n<p>There is definitely a difference between what <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> as a party puts forward, and what its members actually believe. <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> includes former members of extreme right organizations that have often been involved in violent attacks against immigrants and left activists.<\/p>\n<p>However, the percentage of the electorate that was attracted to <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> is almost certainly not made up of potential fascists and virulent nationalists, but by less conscious exploited strata, as well as disgruntled <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> voters. Its electoral campaigning was a classical example of patriotic populism, attacking <q>globalisation<\/q>, irresponsible bankers, foreign interests etc. while also criticising the government on its handling of <q>national matters<\/q> like the <acronym title=\"Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\">FYROM<\/acronym><span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_5');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_5');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_5\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[5]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_5\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\">The Greek government opposed the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym>\u2019s recognition of the ex-Yugoslav breakaway state of Macedonia, on the grounds that Macedonia is the name of the northern province of Greece. Greek nationalists are very concerned about any prospect of Macedonian nationalism reappearing within its own borders. The Greek government reluctantly acceded to the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym> after the new state was officially named the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (<acronym title=\"Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\">FYROM<\/acronym>).<\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_5').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_5', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script> name question.<\/p>\n<h3><acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym><\/h3>\n<figure style=\"width: 114px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Communist Party\" src=\"http:\/\/www.republicancommunist.org\/i\/EL015\/photos\/KKE.jpg\" title=\"Communist Party\" width=\"114\" height=\"119\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Communist Party<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Communist Party is the oldest party in Greece, founded in 1918. It has a very rich history of both outstanding heroism and shameful class treachery. Unlike most European CPs, it did not turn to reformism and social-democracy after the fall of the Soviet Union. Instead, the hardliners who marginally dominated the Central Committee purged the party of \u201crevisionist\u201d, or \u201crenewing\u201d, depending on which side you are on, elements which formed a large part of the apparatus. The expelled members went on to form Synaspismos or Syn. Then, <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> also suffered a split in its youth wing, with the majority of the membership leaving to form another party, which has now become completely marginal.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these major setbacks, <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> managed to rebuild itself and its youth, becoming the largest far left political force, with more than 10,000 members. Its success is largely based on its insistence on explicitly class based politics, its focus on staunch opposition to all imperialist projects, both <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organisation\">NATO<\/acronym> and <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym> inspired as well as its diligent participation in all workers\u2019 struggles.<\/p>\n<p>On the downside, <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> is extremely bureaucratic, leaving little, if any room for initiative to its grass roots activists. It is extremely sectarian, refusing to cooperate with other left wing groups and parties despite the fact that it could use its political muscle to become the driving force behind left regroupment in Greece. However, it does show some signs that it could be moving towards a healthier political path, with its official rejection of stage theory some time ago being the prime example. Unfortunately, the very strict model of <q>democratic<\/q> centralism the party adheres to makes it extremely difficult to discern its internal political developments.<\/p>\n<p><acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 216px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\" src=\"http:\/\/www.republicancommunist.org\/i\/EL015\/photos\/syriza.jpg\" title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\" width=\"216\" height=\"96\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coalition of the Radical Left<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Coalition of the Radical Left, is, as its name implies, not an actual party but an electoral coalition. It is quite peculiar however in that it is not composed of groups of roughly equal political weight, but is instead dominated by one party, Syn, around which a few marginal organisations have grouped. These are: the Communist Organisation of Greece (Maoist), International Workers\u2019 Left (a split from the Greek <acronym title=\"Socialist Workers Party\">SWP<\/acronym>), Red (a split from the latter), Movement for the United Action of the Left, Active Citizens, Ecological Intervention, Renewing Ecological Communist Left, Popular Unions of Bipartisan Left Groups, and the Democratic Social Movement.<\/p>\n<p>Apart from the latter, it would be fair to say that no one, other than left wing activists, has ever heard of these groups. It is thus very unlikely that anyone, apart from their members, intended to vote <acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym> in order to support them. It would be safe therefore to regard the growth of support for <acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym> as a coalition, as a growth of support of Syn as a party. In fact, <q>Synaspismos<\/q> is Greek for <q>coalition<\/q>, suggesting that many of <acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym>\u2019s voters are not aware of the distinction between the party and the coalition. Thus, the politics of Syn form the core of all <acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym> policies, even if the smaller groups maintain some influence on their content.<\/p>\n<p>Syn itself was formed in the early 90s after the aforementioned expulsions from the Communist Party. The expelled members joined up with the Euro-communists that had split from the party in the late 60s. As is the case with most Euro-communist and reformed <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">CP<\/acronym> formations, Syn\u2019s social basis was far less proletarian in composition, with the party being strongest amongst the more privileged strata of the working class as well as the radicalised elements of the middle classes. Naturally then, Syn conducts its politics with little, if any reference to class as the fundamental cleavage in society, while socialism is rarely mentioned as the party\u2019s ultimate political goal, with abstract references to a \u201cmore just society\u201d being made instead. This movementist, RESPECT-like approach is entirely in line with Syn\u2019s leadership plan to construct a broad, left of <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> alliance, as opposed to an explicitly socialist political force. In the context of a society that is obviously receptive to open class politics as is shown by the growth of <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym>, this is nothing short of reactionary.<\/p>\n<p>In its defence, Syn has a far healthier internal political structure\/culture than that of the <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym>, which, allowing the formation of platforms, is fairly similar to that of the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>. However, the ideological cohesion of Syn is far weaker than the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym>\u2019s even before the split. The <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> suffered from including socialists with very contradictory ideas of how socialists should conduct their struggle, but the idea of socialism as a society that is a complete negation of capitalism was never disputed. Syn on the other hand includes in its ranks anyone from orthodox Marxists to radical social-democrats. This is a rather insoluble contradiction that has often led to embarrassing incidents of Syn members from different factions opposing each other on <abbr title=\"Television\">TV<\/abbr> panels.<\/p>\n<h3>Prospects and Tasks<\/h3>\n<p>While both the retreat of the main bourgeois parties, and the growth of the radical left were substantial, it is important to remember that they were not nearly as great as you would expect after the scale of the destruction wrought by the summer fires. It is important however to realise that, if the left does not remain persistent in its resolute opposition to neo-liberal offensives, as well as organise effective resistance against them, this breakthrough might very well be for naught. While a collapse of the scale of the <acronym title=\"Scottish Socialist Party\">SSP<\/acronym> vote is extremely unlikely, simply for reasons of historic loyalty to <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> by a sizeable portion of the left, a retreat to the levels of 2004 would still be very disappointing.<\/p>\n<p>In the immediate future, there will be a number of issues that will require swift action to be taken by both <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> and Syn-<acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym>. First, the attitude of the government towards the communities destroyed by the fires will surely cause much disillusionment and aid will most definitely be insufficient, inefficient and tokenistic. Further, it is certain that a large part of the burned areas will be given to land developers to build on. In fact, this has already started in some areas. There will definitely be significant local opposition to this and it is imperative for both left organizations to be visibly present. Unfortunately, given the rural nature of said areas and their long conservative tradition, it is unlikely that a strong left current will be established there. It is however important that the left is present, if only to help raise its national profile, as the destruction of the Peloponnese is regarded as a serious matter by the whole of Greek society.<\/p>\n<p>Second, after having restructured itself, the government of Karamanlis will surely embark on an offensive of <q>modernising<\/q> reforms that will be directed against the working class. The one that is bound to have the highest profile, at least in the immediate future, is the proposed revision of the constitution to amend article 16, guaranteeing the public and universal character of education in the country. The student movement that shook Greece last year, although bound to be significantly demobilised and weakened after a whole summer of catch up classes and exam periods, will surely reconstitute itself once again. The movement suffered from the lack of a correct political orientation, being led by corrupt elements of the student union and professor bureaucracy. They saw the <q>framework-law<\/q> reforms &#8211; which has since been passed &#8211; as an attack against their privileges (which they were). However, there is little doubt as to the need to fight against the proposed constitutional revision, which would almost certainly destroy what little quality public education in Greece still has. The student movement therefore will offer a good chance for the left to build and organise.<\/p>\n<p>Finally, the succession struggle in <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> will inevitably cause much upheaval within the working masses that still support them. If the populist Papandreou was unable to stop <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym>\u2019s bleeding of support despite his overtures to the left, then Venizelos, the likely winner of the contest, who is a far more thoroughly bourgeois politician will only increase the rate of decline. It is thus more likely that <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> will soon start to fight <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> on its own ground. Bizarrely, this might actually work for them, as <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> will most likely move to the right on token issues as pressure from <acronym title=\"Popular Orthodox Rally\">LAOS<\/acronym> increases and since the difference between <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> and <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> is almost entirely tokenistic, it is not improbable that the more centre oriented <acronym title=\"New Democracy\">ND<\/acronym> support base will move towards <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym>.<\/p>\n<p>In any case, a huge space will be opened to the left of <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> that the left should move to occupy. In this respect, the president of Syn and <acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym>, Alekos Alavanos is entirely correct in remarking that radical social democracy should be approached by anti capitalist forces<span class=\"footnote_referrer\"><a role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" onclick=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_6');\" onkeypress=\"footnote_moveToReference_470_1('footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_6');\" ><sup id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_6\" class=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text\">[6]<\/sup><\/a><span id=\"footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_6\" class=\"footnote_tooltip\"><cite><a href=\"http:\/\/www.syn.gr\/gr\/keimeno.php?id=7563\">Interview of Alekos Alavanos on net (in Greek)<\/a><\/cite><\/span><\/span><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_6').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_470_1_6', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });<\/script>. However, the Syn leadership is wrong in trying to achieve this by means of finding common ground, when it clearly has the political weight to pull the left of <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym> elements towards an anti-capitalist direction, meaningfully different to the dead end of anti-neoliberalism. Any alliance of Syn with the radical social democracy, on their grounds, will only strengthen its internal social democratic factions and increase pressure for entering a coalition government with <acronym title=\"Panhellenic Socialist Movement\">PASOK<\/acronym>, a possibility which has never been rejected in principle by the Syn leadership.<\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 288px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Greek fires bring profits to land developers\" src=\"http:\/\/www.republicancommunist.org\/i\/EL015\/photos\/Greek fires2.jpg\" title=\"Greek fires bring profits to land developers\" width=\"288\" height=\"192\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Greek fires bring profits to land developers<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h3>Conclusion: The problem of left bipolarity and the <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> or Syn dilemma<\/h3>\n<p>As long as this division within the radical left persists, any resistance against the increasing aggressiveness of the bourgeoisie will be severely fettered by sectarianism, while any hope of it turning into an actual working class offensive will remain just that, a hope. While it is true that responsibility for kicking off the project of meaningful left unity lies with <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> as both the larger and the more radical force of the two (but unfortunately, the most sectarian), Syn-<acronym title=\"Coalition of the Radical Left\">SYRIZA<\/acronym> should be criticised on the basis that it does not engage in any action that might make the <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym> Central Committee more open towards the prospect of rapprochement.<\/p>\n<p>Specifically, Syn\u2019s complete lack of principled opposition to the European Union\u2019s directives (in fact, the nature of its opposition amounts to critical support), must be abandoned in favour of a more clear cut rejection of the whole project like its position on <acronym title=\"North Atlantic Treaty Organisation\">NATO<\/acronym>. Further, the radical wing of Syn should try to pull the party towards a more class oriented approach to politics, away from its current new left movementism, which is a sure recipe for dilution of principles. It is Syn that must provide the initiative for left regroupment on a radical socialist basis, even in the form of an electoral pact, as any such unity move is unlikely to come from <acronym title=\"Communist Party\">KKE<\/acronym>.<\/p>\n<p>This situation creates an almost insoluble dilemma for non aligned Greek leftists. Electorally, one has to choose between a mass party with explicit class, socialist politics which is however totally bureaucratic and sectarian, and a smaller loose coalition of vaguely radical left forces without a clear political orientation which could in the future possibly enter a bourgeois coalition. There is no easy solution to this problem and one\u2019s choice is based as much on personal convictions and feelings as on objective political analysis. We can only hope that the self-activity of the working masses will at some point force their vanguard groups to get their act together.<\/p>\n<h3>Endnotes<\/h3>\n<div class=\"speaker-mute footnotes_reference_container\"> <div class=\"footnote_container_prepare\"><h3><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_label pointer\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_470_1();\">References<\/span><span role=\"button\" tabindex=\"0\" class=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button\" style=\"display: none;\" onclick=\"footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_470_1();\">[<a id=\"footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_470_1\">+<\/a>]<\/span><\/h3><\/div> <div id=\"footnote_references_container_470_1\" style=\"\"><table class=\"footnotes_table footnote-reference-container\"><caption class=\"accessibility\">References<\/caption> <tbody> \r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_470_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_1');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_1\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>1<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><cite><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Greek_wiretapping_case_2004%E2%80%9305\">For a fairly good piece on this, see the wikipedia entry<\/a><\/cite><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_470_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_2');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_2\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>2<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><cite><a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/europe\/4526502.stm\">Greek society was in the dark about this, until it was uncovered by the <acronym title=\"British Broadcasting Corporation\">BBC<\/acronym><\/a><\/cite><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_470_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_3');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_3\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>3<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><cite><span class=\"footnote_url_wrap\">http:\/\/www.ekloges.ypes.gr\/pages_en\/index.html<\/span> See the Ministry of Interior, Public Administration and Decentralisation website for an analytical breakdown of electoral results.<\/a><\/cite><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_470_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_4');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_4\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>4<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><cite><a href=\"https:\/\/www.europarl.europa.eu\/sides\/getDoc.do?pubRef=-\/\/EP\/\/TEXT+MOTION+B6-2005-0079+0+DOC+XML+V0\/\/EN&amp;language=EN\">The content of the motion can be found here<\/a><\/cite><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_470_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_5');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_5\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>5<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\">The Greek government opposed the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym>\u2019s recognition of the ex-Yugoslav breakaway state of Macedonia, on the grounds that Macedonia is the name of the northern province of Greece. Greek nationalists are very concerned about any prospect of Macedonian nationalism reappearing within its own borders. The Greek government reluctantly acceded to the <acronym title=\"European Union\">EU<\/acronym> after the new state was officially named the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (<acronym title=\"Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia\">FYROM<\/acronym>).<\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n<tr class=\"footnotes_plugin_reference_row\"> <th scope=\"row\" class=\"footnote_plugin_index_combi pointer\"  onclick=\"footnote_moveToAnchor_470_1('footnote_plugin_tooltip_470_1_6');\"><a id=\"footnote_plugin_reference_470_1_6\" class=\"footnote_backlink\"><span class=\"footnote_index_arrow\">&#8593;<\/span>6<\/a><\/th> <td class=\"footnote_plugin_text\"><cite><a href=\"http:\/\/www.syn.gr\/gr\/keimeno.php?id=7563\">Interview of Alekos Alavanos on net (in Greek)<\/a><\/cite><\/td><\/tr>\r\n\r\n <\/tbody> <\/table> <\/div><\/div><script type=\"text\/javascript\"> function footnote_expand_reference_container_470_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_470_1').show(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_470_1').text('\u2212'); } function footnote_collapse_reference_container_470_1() { jQuery('#footnote_references_container_470_1').hide(); jQuery('#footnote_reference_container_collapse_button_470_1').text('+'); } function footnote_expand_collapse_reference_container_470_1() { if (jQuery('#footnote_references_container_470_1').is(':hidden')) { footnote_expand_reference_container_470_1(); } else { footnote_collapse_reference_container_470_1(); } } function footnote_moveToReference_470_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_470_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } } function footnote_moveToAnchor_470_1(p_str_TargetID) { footnote_expand_reference_container_470_1(); var l_obj_Target = jQuery('#' + p_str_TargetID); if (l_obj_Target.length) { jQuery( 'html, body' ).delay( 0 ); jQuery('html, body').animate({ scrollTop: l_obj_Target.offset().top - window.innerHeight * 0.2 }, 380); } }<\/script>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>YK analyses the Greek election results and addresses the prospects and tasks for socialists That the Greek parliament would be significantly different, as a result of the 16th September elections, was more or less common knowledge in Greece. There had been three and a half years of extreme government incompetence and quite shocking scandals. These&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,102],"tags":[271],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-emancipation-liberation","category-issue-15","tag-author-yk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"views":9818,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18027,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions\/18027"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/republicancommunist.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}