Coalition of the Radical Left

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Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς
Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás
Coalition of the Radical Left
Leader Alekos Alavanos
Political orientation Left-wing politics
Website www.syriza.gr

The Coalition of the Radical Left (Greek: Συνασπισμός Ριζοσπαστικής Αριστεράς, Synaspismós Rizospastikís Aristerás), commonly known by its Greek abbreviation ΣΥΡΙΖΑ (SYRIZA), is a coalition of left political parties in Greece. Its parliamentary leader is Alekos Alavanos, former president of Synaspismos, the largest of the parties that form the coalition.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Formation

Although SYRIZA is typically regarded to have been launched before the legislative election of 2004, the process that ended up in 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.[1] The "Space" was composed of various organizations of the Greek Left that, despite different ideological and historical backgrounds, shared common political action in several important issues that had risen in Greece at the end of the 1990's, 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,[3] 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[4], part of the larger European Social Forum.

[edit] 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.[5] This led to the eventual formation of the Coalition of the Radical Left, in January 2004.[6]

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.[7]

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.

[edit] Crisis and revitalization

Alekos Alavanos
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.[8] Tension built up and resulted in the split of the Internationalist Workers Left and the formation of Kokkino that chose to remain within the Coalition.

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 most of the smaller parties of the Coalition supported the Women for Another Europe (Greek: Γυναίκες για μια άλλη Ευρώπη) feminist ballot.[9].

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.[10] This change of attitude was further intensified with the election of Alekos Alavanos, a staunch supporter of the Coalition,[11] 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 lead by the 30 year old Alexis Tsipras, proposed by Alavanos who declared Synaspismos's "opening to the new generation".

[edit] 2007 general election

Poster of the Coalition for the coming election
Poster of the Coalition for the coming election

The Coalition of the Radical Left was the big surprise in the 2007 Greek legislative election (16 Sep 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.[12]

Prior to the election, in June 22, 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.[13]

The Coalition of 2007 has also expanded from its original composition in 2004. On June 20 2007, the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE) announced its participation into the Coalition.[14] On August 21 the environmentalist Ecological Intervention (Greek: Οικολογική Παρέμβαση), also joined,[15] and on August 22 2007, the Democratic Social Movement (DIKKI), also announced its own participation to the Coalition.[16]

On September 2 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.[17]

[edit] 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
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):[18]

[edit] Electoral results

Results since 2004
(year links to election page)
Year Type of Election Votes % MPs
2004
Parliament
241,539
3.3%
6
2007
Parliament
361,211
5.04%
14

[edit] Parliamentary representation

SYRIZA currently occupies 14 seats in the Greek parliament. Given that the coalition's power is higher in the major cities, most of the MoP's come from the metropolitan areas of Athens, Piraeus and Thessalonica.

  • National list: Yannis Banias
  • Athens A (city): Anna Filini, Periklis Korovesis
  • Athens B (suburban area): Fotis Kouvelis, Giannis Dragasakis, Mihalis Papagiannakis, Grigoris Psarianos
  • Piraeus A (city): Thodoris Dritsas
  • Piraeus B (suburban area): Panagiotis Lafazanis
  • Attica (excl. Athens, Piraeus and suburbs): Thanasis Leventis
  • Thessalonica A (city): Tasos Kourakis
  • Thessalonica B (prefecture, excl. city of Thessalonica): Litsa Ammanatidou-Paskhalidou
  • Achaea: Nikos Tsoukalis
  • Heraklion: Alekos Alavanos

[edit] Recent developments

In 27 November 2007, Alavanos announced that he would not apply for a renewal of his presidency of Synaspismos, due to private reasons.[19] The 5th party congress of Synaspismos elected 33 year old Alexis Tsipras for party president in 10 February 2008. Alavanos retained the parliamentary leadership of SYRIZA, as Tsipras currently serves as a municipal councilman for the municipality of Athens. However, Tsipras has achieved considerable popularity with the Greek electorate, which has led to a significant increase in support for SYRIZA in opinion polls, as much as 18 percent.[20]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Press conference of the "Space", May 2001
  2. ^ Overcoming division, article by Georges Mitralias, June 2001
  3. ^ A catalogue of such electoral alliances
  4. ^ Greek Social Forum
  5. ^ Synaspismos press release, 17 December 2003
  6. ^ 15/01/2004 article from the Greek language edition of the BBC
  7. ^ Koel press release, February 2004
  8. ^ 28/09/2004 article by the newspaper Epohi
  9. ^ 23/05/2004 article by the newspaper Epohi
  10. ^ Chapter 9 of the Political Decisions of the 4th convention of Synaspismos
  11. ^ Alavanos' main convention speech at the convention
  12. ^ See the relevant Wikipedia entry
  13. ^ Full text of the Declaration
  14. ^ news in.gr - Στον ΣΥΡΙΖΑ προσχώρησε η Κομμουνιστική Οργάνωση Ελλάδας
  15. ^ Ecological Intervention press release
  16. ^ DIKKI press release
  17. ^ 2/9/2007 DIKKI press release
  18. ^ List of participants from the Coalition's website
  19. ^ Synaspismos press release
  20. ^ Governing New Democrats Still Lead in Greece, Angus Reid article.

[edit] External links

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