SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left)

SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left)

http://www.syriza.gr/page/who-we-are.html#.VMcWwHaodKo

SYRIZA (Coalition of the Radical Left) entered a new stage in its life and action as a single party after its first (Founding) Congress (10-14 July 2013).

There were 3,568 Congress delegates, who had been elected by 491 organisations of members in Greece, Greeks abroad and youth groups. The Congress elected Alexis Tsipras as President of the party, as well as a 201-member Central Committee.  Some of the component organisations of the initial coalition did not agree with the transformation of SYRIZA into a single party and retain their relationship to SYRIZA as allied groups (Active Citizens, led by M Glezos, Democratic Social Movement - DIKKI, DEA, KEDA).

The Founding Congress of the new party defined itself as a party of the democratic and radical Left, which has its roots in popular struggles for Greek independence, democracy and labour and anti-fascist movements in Greece. The party comprises many different ideological currents and left cultures,   building its identity on a synthesis of the values of the labour movement with those of the ecological, feminist and other new social movements. This is why there are three flags on the SYRIZA logo: red, green and purple.

Since May 2012, when SYRIZA emerged from national elections as the second largest party (Official Opposition) in the Parliament of the Hellenes, with a percentage of 17%, it has attempted to evolve from an alliance into a single party of the modern radical 21st-century Left.

After that, SYRIZA drafted a government programme on the basis of which it fought the elections of 17 June 2012 with the visible possibility of being elected the first party.

However, it has met with fierce reaction from the domestic establishment and European circles, who mounted a fear-mongering campaign against SYRIZA to terrorise the Greek people, in order to stop SYRIZA from becoming the first elected left government in Greek history.

Despite this campaign, SYRIZA’s election percentage skyrocketed to 27%, with 71 MPs (after being joined by an MP who had been elected with the Democratic Left [DIMAR], it now has 72 MPs).

The first party in the June 2012 elections was New Democracy, which formed a government with PASOK and DIMAR. Subsequently (June 2013), DIMAR withdrew from the government after its sudden authoritarian decision to dismantle ERT (the state radio and television); so the pro-Memorandum government continued with ND and PASOK, insisting on and even stepping up the same neoliberal policies which are directed against the people.

Today, SYRIZA's main goal is to bring down the government and force it to call a general election in order to end the modern Greek tragedy that the Greek people are living through, with an unprecedented unemployment rate of almost 30% (among young people the unemployment rate is more than 60%!), widespread poverty, over-indebtedness of households, closures of many small shops and businesses and an economic recession that has exceeded 20% of GDP in the past five years.

SYRIZA insists strongly on its position that it will abolish the memoranda signed with the Troika of lenders when it assumes office and will re-negotiate the loans. At the same time it will promote a programme of social and economical reconstruction, aiming at development that promotes human needs and well-being and respects nature.

Regarding foreign policy, SYRIZA fights for a multidimensional, pro-peace foreign policy for Greece, with no involvement in wars or military plans, a policy of independence and friendly peaceful cooperation with all countries, especially our neighbours.

Together with the European Left Party, of which it is a very active member, SYRIZA is fighting for the re-foundation of Europe away from artificial divisions and cold-war alliance such as NATO.  As for the E.U., SYRIZA denounces the dominant extreme neoliberal and euro-atlantic policies and believes that they must and can be transformed radically in the direction of a democratic, social, peaceful, ecological and feminist Europe, open to a socialist and democratic future. This is why SYRIZA is in favour of cooperation and coordinated action of left forces and social movements on a pan-European scale.  However, it does not hold   euro-centric views and rejects the idea of an insulate "fortress Europe".

At the same time, SYRIZA is in favour of regional cooperation, especially in the Balkans and the Mediterranean. It attaches particular significance to confronting the crucial problems of peace within our broader region (Balkans, Mediterranean, Middle East). It is in favour of a diplomatic process of dialogue based on international law and of resolving the problems in Greek-Turkish relations to the benefit of both peoples and towards establishing peace in our region; it is in favour of the Cyprus issue being resolved on the basis of relevant UN Resolutions, so that the island be reunified within the framework of a bi-zonal, bi-community federation with a single citizenship, sovereignty, and international personality.

In the European Parliament, SYRIZA is a member of the confederal group European Unitarian Left/Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL).

SYRIZA draws inspiration from the progressive anti-neoliberal changes in Latin America and retains close relations with many left forces in that region and the São Paulo Forum.

 

 SYRIZA stands for a better Europe