SYRIZA's left wing sticks to belief Greece should leave euro
The challenge SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras faces in balancing his effort to prepare his party for power while taming or satisfying its more radical elements has been emphasised again after the group’s left wing rekindled the debate about Greece leaving the euro.
A statement by the Left Platform, a faction within SYRIZA led by MP Panayiotis Lafazanis, on Sunday called for SYRIZA to reconsider its position on the euro.
“The eurozone and the European Union have reached a point where they cannot be reformed or rebuilt, only overturned,” the movement said in a statement submitted to SYRIZA’s central committee.
“The plan for Greece to leave the eurozone is not a catastrophic choice at all. In fact, it will provide a positive and trustworthy response to the crisis,” the Left Platform added.
Lafazanis has long maintained this position and is the chief expresser of the current of euroscepticism that exists within the party. Significantly, his faction gained 30 percent of the seats on SYRIZA’s central committee during this summer’s congress, when Tsipras united – theoretically, at least – his party behind a core message and central decision-making process.
In this respect, the leftist lawmaker’s latest attack on the euro and EU is nothing new. However, what is different this time is that the statement comes shortly after Tsipras made in a speech at the University of Texas his clearest statement ever in favour of keeping the euro.
Sunday’s statement from the Left Platform appears, whether consciously or not, a response to Tsipras’s speech in Texas. If the SYRIZA leader thought that his attempt to balance political realism with political radicalism and take his party from one of strident opposition to being ready to govern was anywhere near over, he has just been reminded there is still a long way to go.
Greece has been unable to have a coherent debate about the merits and challenges of its euro membership since the crisis broke out. Part of the reason for this is that there has been no political force able to convincingly articulate an argument in favour of Greece leaving the single currency. The Communist Party (KKE) favours a euro and EU exit but its inability to speak the political language of the 21st century has seen its support flounder rather than grow over the last few years. The smaller Plan B party, led by ex-SYRIZA chief Alekos Alavanos, is still in its infancy and is only garnering support of about 1 percent in opinion polls.
In this environment, the persistence of a section within SYRIZA whose size is not negligible in backing the idea of a return to the drachma could have unpredictable consequences. Tsipras is pushing in one direction, while some in his party are pulling the other way. This tug-of-war may be settled while SYRIZA is still in opposition but it could carry over until the leftists reach office. Either way, its impact on the party’s cohesion is potentially damaging.
In the short-term, it has forced SYRIZA on the defensive. Following Lafazanis's statement, government spokesman Simos Kedikoglou called on Tsipras to throw the lawmaker out of his party. SYRIZA defended the party's right to allow democratic debate. Nevertheless, this polyphony leaves the opposition party open to attacks from its opponents, who believe there is political capital to be won in portraying SYRIZA as a party that is not committed to the euro membership, which the majority of Greeks favour, although this figure has been declining.
