Syriza

Formation

Although Syriza was launched before the 2004 legislative election, the roots of the process that led to 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. The "Space" was composed of various organisations of the Greek Left that, despite different ideological and historical backgrounds, had shared common political action in several important issues that had arisen in Greece at the end of the 1990s, such as the Kosovo War, privatizations, social and civil 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 organisations that attended, it gave birth to some electoral alliances for the local elections of 2002, 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, part of the larger European Social Forum.

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. This led to the eventual formation of the Coalition of the Radical Left, in January 2004.

The parties that had formed the Coalition of the Radical Left in January 2004 were the:

Although the Communist Organization of Greece (KOE) had participated in the "Space", it decided not to take part in the Coalition.

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 Synaspismós, the largest of the coalition parties. This led to much tension within the coalition.

Crisis and revitalisation

After the 2004 election, the smaller parties accused Synaspismós of not honoring an agreement to have one of its members of parliament resign so that Yannis Banias of the AKOA could take his seat. Tension built up and resulted in the split of the Internationalist Workers Left and the formation of Kokkino, both of which remained within the coalition. The frame of the crisis within SYRIZA was the reluctance of Synaspismós to adopt and maintain the political agreement for a clear denial of "centre-left politics".

Three months after the 2004 legislative elections, Synaspismós chose to run independently from the rest of the coalition for the 2004 European elections and some of the smaller parties of the coalition supported the feminist Women for Another Europe (Greek: Γυναίκες για μια Άλλη Ευρώπη) list.

The crisis ended in December 2004 with the 4th convention of Synaspismós, when a large majority within the party voted for the continuation of the coalition. This change of attitude was further intensified with the election of Alekos Alavanos, a staunch supporter of the coalition, as president of Synaspismós, after its former leader, Nikos Konstantopoulos, stepped down.

The coalition was further strengthened by the organization in May 2006 of the 4th European Social Forum in Athens, and by a number of largely successful election campaigns, such as those in Athens and Piraeus, during the 2006 local elections. The coalition ticket in the municipality of Athens was headed by Alexis Tsipras, proposed by Alavanos who declared Synaspismós's "opening to the new generation".

2007 legislative election

On 16 September 2007, Syriza gained 5.0% of the vote in the 2007 Greek legislative election. 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.

Prior to the election, on 22 June, 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.

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

On 2 September, the Areios Pagos refused to include the title of DIKKI in the Syriza electoral alliance, claiming that the internal procedures followed by DIKKI were flawed. This was criticised by Syriza and DIKKI as inappropriate interference by the courts in party political activity.

2007–2011

On 27 November 2007, Alavanos announced that, for private reasons, he would not be seeking to renew his presidency of Synaspismós. The 5th party congress of Synaspismós elected Alexis Tsipras, a municipal councillor for the municipality of Athens, as party president on 10 February 2008. Alavanos retained the parliamentary leadership of Syriza, however, as Tsipras was not at that time a member of parliament. Tsipras achieved considerable popularity with the Greek electorate, which led to a significant increase in support for Syriza in opinion polls – up to 18 percent at its peak.

At the end of June 2008, Xekinima announced that it would join the coalition.

During the run-up to the 2009 European elections Syriza, amid turbulent internal developments, saw its poll share decrease to 4.7%, with the result that only one SYRIZA candidate (Nikos Hountis) was elected to the European Parliament. This caused renewed internal strife, leading to the resignation of former Synaspismós president Alekos Alavanos from his seat in the Greek parliament, a resignation that was, however, withdrawn a few days later.

In the 2009 legislative election held on 4 October 2009, SYRIZA won 4.6% of the vote (slightly below its 2007 showing), returning 13 MPs to the Hellenic Parliaments. The incoming MPs included Tsipras, who took over as Syriza's parliamentary leader.

In June 2010, the Ananeotiki ("Renewing Wing") of radical social democrats in Synapsismós split away from the party, at the same time leaving Syriza. This reduced Syriza's parliamentary group to 9 MPs. The 4 MPs who left formed a new party, the Democratic Left (DIMAR).

2012 general elections

In a move of voters away from the parties which participated in the coalition government under the premiership of Lucas Papademos in November 2011, Syriza gained popular support in the opinion polls, as did the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) and DIMAR. Opinion polls in the run-up to the May 2012 election showed Syriza with 10-12% support. The minor Unitary Movement (a PASOK splinter group) also joined the coalition in March 2012.

In first 2012 legislative election held on 6 May, the party polled over 16% and quadrupled its number of seats, becoming the second largest party in parliament, behind New Democracy (ND). After the election, Tsipras was invited by the president of Greece to try to form a government, but failed to form a government owing to a lack of parliamentary numbers. Subsequently, Tsipras rejected a proposal by the president to join a coalition government with the centre-right and centre-left parties.

For the second 2012 legislative election on 17 June 2012, SYRIZA re-registered as a single party (adding the "United Social Front" moniker) instead of as a coalition, in order to be eligible to receive the 50 "bonus" seats given to the largest polling party under the Greek electoral system. However, although Syriza increased its share of the vote to just under 27%, New Democracy polled 29.8% and claimed the bonus. With 71 seats, Syriza became the main opposition party to a coalition government composed of ND, PASOK, and DIMAR. Tsipras subsequently formed the Shadow Cabinet of Alexis Tsipras in July 2012.

Unitary party

In July 2013, a Syriza congress was held to discuss the organization of the party. Important outcomes included a decision in principle to dissolve the participating parties in Syriza in favour of a unitary party. However, implementation was deferred for three months to allow time for four of the parties which were reluctant to dissolve to consider their positions. Tsipras was confirmed as chairman with 74% of the vote. However delegates supporting the Left Platform (Greek: "Αριστερή Πλάτφορμα") led by Panayiotis Lafazanis, which wanted to leave the door open to quitting the euro, secured 30% (60) of the seats on Syriza's central committee. A modest success was also claimed by the "Communist Platform" (Greek section of the International Marxist Tendency), who managed to get two members elected to the party's central committee.

2014 elections

Local elections and elections to the European Parliament were held in May 2014. In the 2014 European election on 25 May 2014, Syriza reached first place with 26.5% of vote, ahead of New Democracy at 22.7%. The position in the local elections was less clear-cut, due to the number of "non-party" local tickets and independents contending for office. Syriza's main success was the election of Rena Dourou to the Attica Regional governorship with 50.8% of the second-round vote over the incumbent Yiannis Sgouros. Its biggest disappointment was the failure of Gabriel Sakellaridis to win the Athens Mayoralty election, being beaten in the second ballot by Giorgos Kaminis with 51.4% to his 48.6%.

Thessaloniki Programme

On 13 September 2014, Syriza unveiled the Thessaloniki Programme, a set of policy proposals containing its central demands for economic and political restructuring.

January 2015 election

After the Hellenic Parliament failed to elect a new President of State by 29 December 2014, the parliament was dissolved and a snap legislative election was scheduled for 25 January 2015. Syriza had a lead in opinion polls, but its anti-austerity position worried investors and eurozone supporters. The party's chief economic advisor, John Milios, has downplayed fears that Greece under a Syriza government would exit the eurozone, while shadow development minister George Stathakis disclosed the party’s intention to crack down on Greek oligarchs if it wins the election. In the election, Syriza defeated the incumbent New Democracy and became the largest party in the Hellenic Parliament, receiving 36.3% of the vote and 149 out of 300 seats.

Tsipras was congratulated by French president Francois Hollande who stressed Greco-French "friendship," as well as by leftist leaders all over Europe, including Pablo Iglesias Turrión of Spain's Podemos and Katja Kipping of Germany's Die Linke. German government official Hans-Peter Friedrich however said: "The Greeks have the right to vote for whom they want. We have the right to no longer finance Greek debt." The Financial Times and Radio Free Europe reported on Syriza's ties with Russia and extensive correspondence with the Russian political scientist Aleksandr Dugin. Early in the SYRIZA-led government of Greece, the Russian President Vladimir Putin and Alexis Tsipras concluded a face-to-face meeting by announcing an agreement on boosting investment ties between the two nations. Alexis Tsipras also said that Greece would seek to mend ties between Russia and EU through European institutions. Tsipras also said that Greece was not in favour of Western sanctions imposed on Russia, adding that it risked the start of another Cold War.

Government formation

On 26 January 2015, Tsipras and Independent Greeks (ANEL) leader Panos Kammenos agreed to form a coalition government of Syriza and ANEL, with Tsipras becoming Prime Minister of Greece and Greek-Australian economist Yanis Varoufakis appointed Minister of Finance and Panos Kammenos appointed Minister of Defence. In July 2015, Yanis Varoufakis was replaced by Euclid Tsakalotos as Minister of Finance.

Party split and September 2015 election

Following the acceptance by Tsipras and the Syriza government of the third Memorandum with the European Union on Greece's debt, 25 Syriza MPs who rejected the terms of the bailout, including the party's Left Platform and the Internationalist Workers Left faction, split to form a new party Popular Unity (Greek: Λαϊκή Ενότητα, Laïkí Enótita). They were led by Panagiotis Lafazanis.

Having lost his majority in the Greek Parliament, Tsipras resigned as Prime Minister on 20 August 2015, and called a fresh election on 20 September 2015.

Although polls suggested a close contest between Syriza and New Democracy, in the event Syriza led ND by 7%, winning 145 seats. Popular Unity polled below the 3% threshold and therefore had no parliamentary representation. Tsipras renewed Syriza's previous coalition agreement with the Independent Greeks, giving the new government 155 seats out of 300 in the Greek Parliament.

Cabinet members

Members of the new Cabinet were sworn in on 23 September 2015:

The Ministry of Defence was filled by a non-Syriza nominee, Panos Kammenos of the Independent Greeks (ANEL).

Former constituent parties

Syriza as a unitary party was formed through the merger of the following parties (in alphabetical order in English):

Ideology

The Syriza coalition was founded by a broad array of thirteen groups and independent politicians, including social democrats, democratic socialists, left-wing patriots, feminists, anti-capitalists, centrists, and environmentalist groups; as well as Marxist–Leninists, Maoists, Trotskyists, Eurocommunists, Luxemburgists, and Eurosceptics. Additionally, despite its secular ideology, many members are Christians who are mainly opposed to the privileges of the state-sponsored Orthodox Church of Greece. From 2013 the coalition became a unitary party, although it retained its name with the addition of "United Social Front".

Syriza has been characterized as an anti-establishment party, whose success has sent "shock-waves across the EU". Although it has abandoned its old identity, that of a hard-left protest voice, becoming more populist in character, and stating that it will not abandon the eurozone, its chairman Alexis Tsipras has declared that the "euro is not my fetish". The Vice President of the European Parliament and Syriza MEP Dimitrios Papadimoulis stated that Greece should "be a respectable member of the European Union and the euro zone" and that "there is absolutely no case for a Grexit". Although Alexis Tsipras clarified that Syriza "does not support any sort of Euroscepticism", at the same time, the party is seen as a mildly Eurosceptic force.

Group of 53

The Group of 53, also known as 53+, are a faction within Syriza. The group was founded in mid-2014 and stands ideologically between the Left Platform and Tsipras's core backers. Both Euclid Tsakalotos and Gabriel Sakellaridis are members of the group. Another member of the group was Tassos Koronakis, the former secretary of the Syriza Central Committee who resigned following the announcement of the snap elections in September 2015.

Left Platform

The Left Platform were a faction within Syriza, positioned ideologically on the far-left of the party. In August 2015, 25 Left Platform MPs within Syriza left and the party and formed Popular Unity to contest the snap elections. The grouping was led by former energy minister Panagiotis Lafazanis.

Hellenic Parliament

^A 2004 results are compared to the Synaspismos totals in the 2000 election.
^B 01/2015 results are compared to the combined totals for Syriza and OP totals in the 06/2012 election.

European Parliament

^A 2009 results are compared to the Synaspismos totals in the 2004 election.

European parliament

SYRIZA held six seats in the European parliament.