All eyes on Greece! (From Detroit Workers Voice #116, Jan. 19, 2015) On Sunday, January 25, Greek voters will elect a new parliament. Syriza (the Coalition of the Radical Left) is leading in the polls. And it is committed to ending austerity. Unemployment, wage cuts, and hopelessness is rampant in Greece. Even the medical system has collapsed, and malaria again haunts the country. Yet the European bourgeoisie and bankers are insisting that yet more workers should starve, and yet further cuts be made in social programs. All the establishment parties back austerity, including the Greek socialist party, PASOK. The workers of Greece are desperate and fed up with PASOK, whose popularity has fallen to single digits. PASOK is as bad as the Democratic Party here; it is no alternative to the present Conservative ruling party. Its a new party, Syriza, formed in 2004, that is posing the challenge to austerity. Syriza promises to end austerity and gradually restore the cuts. This is what the people want. But Syriza believes the European Union officials and bankers will agree to renegotiate the government debt. It hopes they can be forced to be be reasonable, but when have the capitalists ever been reasonable? Besides, the relentless Eurobourgeoisie fears that if they renegotiate the Greek debt, they will have to renegotiate the Spanish, Portuguese, Irish, Italian and other debts too. So, if Syriza wins the election with a large enough margin to form a government, a major confrontation will be in the making. Are people or interest payments to be protected? All Europe will be watching. But what will Syriza do if it cant get other governments and the Eurobankers to go along? Will it rally the working masses in favor of more radical steps than renegotiation? Or will the Greek workers need to build a stronger party, with a clearer orientation towards the class struggle? This is a critical moment for Greece, and for workers across Europe. Down with austerity! Support the Greek people!
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 07:55:53 +0000
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