Greece Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras - a profile

Greece is desperate to heave a sigh of relief, waiting with bated breath for its government to fix its economical troubles. So deep is the frustration that today a 40-year-old Alexis Tsipras, who is proud of going open-collared to some of the most important meetings of his life, is the prime minister. And Tsipras has vowed to go without a necktie till the Greek crisis is solved. That's not even the beginning of the end of the departure from traditions that Greece and other European countries are witnessing, thanks to the his party, Syriza, that was sworn in on January 26 this year. The Tsipras-led Syriza party is also anti-austerity.

Anti-austerity. The most common word being used to describe the ruling Greek party. It's these exact words that led the party to victory early this year.

So how did it all happen? To explain it simply and briefly -- the Greeks were looking for hope. A government-led by Antonis Samaras, an economist and a former Minister of Finance, was supposed to breathe life in the economy but he failed to bring in any major change despite ruthless austerity at the behest of creditors and lenders to stabilise the economy and seek bailouts to pay off the country's debt. This is despite his expertise and years of governing experience that he brought to the table. Before that, the country had seen a technocrat, Panagiotis Pikramenos, as an acting prime minister failing to pull Greece out from the bottom of the well, and a provisional government led by Lucas Papademos. The Greeks were fed up. There was only one thing they wanted – an end to austerity. All they were looking for, was a ray of hope. 

Η ελπίδα έρχεται - Hope is on the way

“Hope is on the way”, said Tsipras, and the Greeks were listening. The incumbent radical leftist politician, Tsipras echoed what the people of Greece were desperate for. They needed rescuing; Tsipras was repeating what they were shouting out on the streets. When the old and retired population who'd been protesting against pension cuts heard that Tsipras was not going to give into austerity and cut their pensions any further, they came flocking in to support the party. The promise of thousands of new jobs had the attention of Greece's young unemployed population, and in came the poor when he promised free electricity to thousands of households and meal subsidies to families without a regular income, free medical aid and a better minimum wage. And if that wasn't enough for his party party’s slogan ‘Hope is on the way’ to be on everyone’s lips, promises of taxing the rich made them all cheer in unison. 

Syriza won with a staggering majority in January this year up from a meagre 4% ten years ago. Tsipras was sworn in on January 26th. And then he hit a wall. Things were obviously not going to be easy, but they proved even more difficult for Tsipras who has decades less in governing experience than any of his predecessors, who despite their apparent flair for governing and negotiating, had failed. Tsipras soon chose a cabinet that he preferred, and collectively, six months down the line the entire lot rubs off like a bunch of rebels with nothing much to show as a result of their 'different path’. 

Tsipras has spent most of his time negotiating with the European Union leaders, bringing little to the table, and rejecting every proposal that the troika of creditors — International Monetary Fund, European Central Bank and European Commission — make, all the while assuring the Greek people that he will not betray their trust and their mandate of saying no to austerity. 

Tsipras labeled the latest bailout proposal as “blackmail and an “ultimatum” which “asked to implement memoranda policies agreed to by the previous governments despite the fact that the memoranda were unequivocally condemned by the Greek people in the recent elections”.

In an interview after a meeting with the European Commission where he dismissed this proposal, he also invoked European Union’s founding principle, assuring his people that his government will continue to fight in favor of the those principles. 

 

The European Union foundation principles were democracy, solidarity, equality, and mutual respect. These principles were not based on blackmail and ultimatums. And especially in these crucial times, no one has the right to put in danger these principles. The Greek government will continue decisively to give the fight in favor of these principles; will continue to give the fight on behalf of the European people and of course on behalf of the Greek people.

Stirring things up and reassurances can garner unprecedented support of a vulnerable population, and even unite them across race and class. So can built-up frustration. One thing's for sure, Tsipras may have and still might be doing a lot of things wrong, but the Greek tragedy isn’t his fault. There were many who came before him that messed things up, including former governments, the IMF, ECB and EC. That said, failure to deliver on its promises has dissolved governments before, and a possibility of it happening again isn’t improbable. 

Tsipras might have had the majority vote, but how far will he have the support of his people? Will the June 30 be the beginning of the end for Tsipras? 

In the event that the Greek parliament rejects the bailout in the referendum, then the country goes into IMF’s arrears. This will be the first time an advanced economy fails to repay its debt. It will also be the first time that a European economy fails to repay its debt to the international lending entity. It will also go in the books of history as the IMF’s biggest bad debt since its inception. And everyone always has to pay IMF’s debt. If not by seeking an exit route by accepting the troika’s austerity bill right now, then Greece will have to pay it later, with interest, when IMF seeks to settle its arrears. 

This will only mean one thing post June 30. Breaking the Greek people’s trust. Going against their mandate and giving in to austerity measures, like the “memoranda policies agreed to by the previous governments”. What will happen to the leftist Syriza then? What will become of its radical leader? A Greek failure is expected to impact several global entities and economies, but it may deliver the biggest blow to Alexis Tsipras and his party that came into power promising one thing, but having to eventually give into the exact opposite. An ideological failure; which is suicidal. The party may recover over the years, maybe after decades, and Greece, years after it has recovered from the crisis or is on the path to recovery, may go seeking a leftist government again, but will the people of Greece ever forget that they were promised that hope was on the way?