Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA: Energizing the Spanish Left

Published on Thursday, 27 March 2014 16:34

In an article published in the online economic journal nuevatribuna.es, Catalan economist Manuel Garcia Biel describes how Alexis Tsipras’ candidacy for the European Commission and SYRIZA, the Greek Left party that Tsipras leads, is energizing the Spanish Left.

Biel discusses the popularity of Tsipras and SYRIZA, and the hope that this has given the parties of the Left and European citizens that feel disenfranchised by the neoliberal politics favored by the ruling parties. Noting the intense negative propaganda against Tsipras during the Greek elections of 2012, Biel cites the factors at play: the hypocrisy of the neoliberals, the vested interests of the elites and the seeming acquiescence of the social democrats in supporting economic and social policies that serve the markets rather than ordinary citizens.

Tsipras and SYRIZA stand apart from the corrupt practices that have marked European and Greek politics to date, as well as the damaging programs of austerity that are decimating years of progress and growth. Biel highlights that Tsipras’ policies—both for Greece and for Europe—are democratic and transparent, pro-European and pro-Euro, and focus on restoring the eroding social cohesion faced by the countries of the South—a phenomenon that if left unchecked, threatens to tear the European Union apart. Tsipras envisions a Europe that protects its citizens and their rights, with emphasis on maintaining and strengthening democratic institutions, such as the European and national parliaments.

As stated by Tsipras, “the European Union will either operate democratically or will cease to exist. For us, democracy is non-negotiable."