This January the Greek people elected a new government. Built on the promise of ending austerity and restoring the good name of the Greeks, Syriza had a lot to live up to. Led by Alexis Tspiras the new government represented a radical change the people desperately wanted.
As Prime Minister, Tspiras first had to come up with a plan to end austerity. Austerity measures were first placed on the country in 2010 after the first bailout from the European Union. There was talk of a "Grexit" or a Greek-exit from the EU. Tspira and his new radical left government soon found out that a face-off with the larger EU powers was much harder than first thought. Germany being one of Greece's major creditors was furious over the matter and fought the Greeks at every turn. What had at one time been a bright new start for the new government soon turned dim.
Finance minster Yanis Varoufakis took a hard stance against further austerity and another bailout. Varoufakis had a deep hatred for the "troika", the name given to the three most infamous institutions in Greece. The International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission all three had helped bail Greece out in 2010. These three had loaned $146 billion to the Greek government setting off a series of spending cuts. This included cuts to pensions and wages while raising taxes. This left the Greek economy in shambles leaving twenty-five percent of the population unemployed. Varoufakis saw the troika has the source of all things wrong with Greece's economy and fought viciously to end the austerity measures.
Soon however, Alexis Tspiras saw his plan falling apart. Negotiations with Greek's creditors did not end with Greek on the winning side. In July the Greek parliament voted on another set of austerity measures to secure a new bailout. At the same time Tspiras was facing a rebellion from within his own party. Former finance minster Yanis Varoufakis joined in the rebellion and voted against the new bailout. The party, divided and defeated, was in need of a new start.
That new start came in August with Tspiras stepping down and calling for new elections. The elections are this Sunday and despite Syriza's shortcomings they are still polling strong. The Greek people are hopeful that Syriza can help ease Greece's troubles. The party has also moved away from the far left since January. This movement from the left has caused some to leave the party and others to join it. The main opposition, the New Democratic party, has dominated Greek politics for decades and many Greeks are tired of them. A coalition still seems likely as no party has been predicted to win a majority. If Syriza does indeed lose, and Tspira does not regain control, this will be the seventh prime minster since 2009.
Whatever the outcome of Sunday's elections this new government faces a new set of challenges; new austerity measures, and a flood of migrants coming from the east and south. Syriza set expectations high in January and paid the price. Alexis Tspiras has a lot of work to do if he is to avoid yet another failure.
Jacob Lee
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-24/greek-election-syriza-2-0-vs-what-s-left
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/01/greeces-election
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-13/tsipras-seeks-to-sell-greeks-betrayal-of-his-campaign-promises
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120845/greek-election-2015-does-syriza-win-mean-grexit-next
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21650600-its-first-hundred-days-greeces-government-has-failed-dismally-crunch-looms-sorry-saga
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/magazine/a-finance-minister-fit-for-a-greek-tragedy.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/opinion/here-comes-another-greek-election.html
As Prime Minister, Tspiras first had to come up with a plan to end austerity. Austerity measures were first placed on the country in 2010 after the first bailout from the European Union. There was talk of a "Grexit" or a Greek-exit from the EU. Tspira and his new radical left government soon found out that a face-off with the larger EU powers was much harder than first thought. Germany being one of Greece's major creditors was furious over the matter and fought the Greeks at every turn. What had at one time been a bright new start for the new government soon turned dim.
Finance minster Yanis Varoufakis took a hard stance against further austerity and another bailout. Varoufakis had a deep hatred for the "troika", the name given to the three most infamous institutions in Greece. The International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission all three had helped bail Greece out in 2010. These three had loaned $146 billion to the Greek government setting off a series of spending cuts. This included cuts to pensions and wages while raising taxes. This left the Greek economy in shambles leaving twenty-five percent of the population unemployed. Varoufakis saw the troika has the source of all things wrong with Greece's economy and fought viciously to end the austerity measures.
Soon however, Alexis Tspiras saw his plan falling apart. Negotiations with Greek's creditors did not end with Greek on the winning side. In July the Greek parliament voted on another set of austerity measures to secure a new bailout. At the same time Tspiras was facing a rebellion from within his own party. Former finance minster Yanis Varoufakis joined in the rebellion and voted against the new bailout. The party, divided and defeated, was in need of a new start.
That new start came in August with Tspiras stepping down and calling for new elections. The elections are this Sunday and despite Syriza's shortcomings they are still polling strong. The Greek people are hopeful that Syriza can help ease Greece's troubles. The party has also moved away from the far left since January. This movement from the left has caused some to leave the party and others to join it. The main opposition, the New Democratic party, has dominated Greek politics for decades and many Greeks are tired of them. A coalition still seems likely as no party has been predicted to win a majority. If Syriza does indeed lose, and Tspira does not regain control, this will be the seventh prime minster since 2009.
Whatever the outcome of Sunday's elections this new government faces a new set of challenges; new austerity measures, and a flood of migrants coming from the east and south. Syriza set expectations high in January and paid the price. Alexis Tspiras has a lot of work to do if he is to avoid yet another failure.
Jacob Lee
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-08-24/greek-election-syriza-2-0-vs-what-s-left
http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/01/greeces-election
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-13/tsipras-seeks-to-sell-greeks-betrayal-of-his-campaign-promises
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120845/greek-election-2015-does-syriza-win-mean-grexit-next
http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21650600-its-first-hundred-days-greeces-government-has-failed-dismally-crunch-looms-sorry-saga
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/magazine/a-finance-minister-fit-for-a-greek-tragedy.html?_r=0
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/19/opinion/here-comes-another-greek-election.html