SYRIZA and the Rise of Radical Left-Reformism in Europe

Abstract

The rise of SYRIZA, Greece's Coalition of the Radical Left, in the May elections and in polls since, has electrified the left globally.

The election on 6 May revealed that the mass of the Greek people rejected the austerity programme imposed under the Memorandum of Understanding between their government and the European Union (EU) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). SYRIZA's leader, Alex Tsipras, has denounced the programme as ‘barbarous’ and his refusal to form a coalition with the parties that support the Memorandum has forced Greece into a second election on 17 June.