This is the first time a left-wing party claims victory in Greek elections. Now the challenge for Syriza is to come across as a competent political force ready to hold a wider lead over its rivals.
Joanna P has summed up four main challenges SYRIZa faces after the European Parliament and the local elections
Based on its overall performance SYRIZA needs to :
1) Narrow the political divide between the rural and urban areas by working more on local campaigning.
2) Embrace a more effective communications strategy (a well known weakness), come across as more proactive instead of reactive, more aggressive instead of defensive when needed.
3) Attract voters who identify themselves with the center of the political spectrum who back the likes of Democratic Left or To Potami. This topic has repeatedly sparked heated debate since any attempt for a rightward shift turns off the radicals among its electoral base who at the worst could to switch to Antarsya or other left-wing parties.
4) Capitalize on Rena Dourou’s key win on the race for Attica governor, a region with the largest population posing a test for Syriza to show that it can bring results. (source)
What I would add is:
5) Reach an inner-party agreement on common economic policies. Voices calling for exit from the euro-area or seizing bank assets for “internal borrowing” scare the middle classes and hurt the party.
On the other hand SYRIZA is not a political party in the traditional form of a Greek political party around one leader – mostly also the founder.
SYRIZA is was originally founded as a coalition of left-wing and radical left parties. The coalition comprises a broad array of groups (thirteen in total) and independent politicians, including democratic socialists, green left groups, Maoists, Trotskyists, euro-communists, ex KKE-members. Its parliamentary leader is Alexis Tsipras, president of Synaspismos, the largest party in the coalition.
But its of its components claims a voice.
Read more on SYRIZA here.
