Tsipras’ pledges: Is the guide 2015 or 2019?
The declarations made by the leader of main opposition SYRIZA at the Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF) last week included too many exaggerations. The promises he generously gave for subsidies, tax exemptions and allowances satisfied many of his listeners. Most of them are people who had voted for the party in the previous elections as well – when it lost. But is retaining existing voters enough?
If his target was the undecided voters, these will not be lured into voting for SYRIZA after the announcements he made. These people would like to hear a structured program that builds on the SYRIZA of 2019, and doesn’t slip back to that of 2015 (when it was first elected to power with an array of promises that proved impossible to fulfill). They want to hear that the party which implemented and successfully completed the last bailout program encourages and supports entrepreneurship, obviously making a reasonable distinction between the healthy and unhealthy. With the completion of the third bailout in 2018,
Greece pledged to continue on the path of reforms during the period of enhanced surveillance and remain committed to a productive competitive environment even after that period ended. SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras had every right to talk about social justice, the rule of law, fighting corruption, and supporting low income earners and pensioners, but without exaggerations that would make his project fiscally dangerous. In short, he could attempt, through a balanced approach, to convince voters that he indeed aims at having SYRIZA evolve into a broader “progressive party,” retaining its leftist roots, but not limiting itself to them.
To expand his audience, his gift in communication is not enough. He needs a well-thought-out program aimed at the future, not one hostage to the past. And at the same time, he needs to introduce new faces, accomplished figures outside the party membership, and use them along with the more modern among the existing party cadres that themselves appeal to a broader audience.
Those who are interested in the country and are not beholden to specific parties or persons are telling foreign institutions and investors that whatever government emerges from the next elections, the three largest parties with experience in government do not question the geopolitical orientation or threaten the fiscal stability of the country. It may sound strange to some, but it is an argument that benefits not only the country, but also the two major parties: ruling New Democracy, because it encourages every foreign investor to expand their current business activity by drawing up far-reaching plans without reservations, and SYRIZA, because it strengthens the prospect of an unimpeded continuation of existing investments and not their flight in the event that the party is elected.
When the prime minister or the leader of the main opposition speaks at TIF, they are also speaking to investors and markets that – rightly or wrongly – do not forgive excesses that call into question fiscal stability. The “day after” requires a balance between social sensitivity and economic realism.