Greek vote sends euro into crisis
THE controversial far-Left party Syriza won power in Greece yesterday, bringing renewed fears of a crisis for the euro.
Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras called Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras to concede defeat after exit polls suggested the radical party was on course to win comfortably. The result will spread alarm across Europe that Greece could now leave the struggling single currency.
The euro, which has plunged in value recently as a Syriza victory seemed likely, continued to slide last night. Some experts fear an imminent run on Greek banks.
Mr Tsipras has pledged to renegotiate the terms of Greece’s £185billion bailout from the EU and IMF, claiming austerity measures are crippling the country.
THE eurozone was on the brink of a fresh crisis last night as a radical far-Left party closed in on overall power in Greece.
Exit polls suggested the Syriza party was on course to win by a comfortable margin – threatening to send political shockwaves across Europe and revive fears the country could leave the euro.
The single currency continued to slide last night following a tumultuous few days in which uncertainty in Athens sent it tumbling to its lowest level for 11 years.
Some experts fear a run on the Greek banks as early as today as remaining investors try to withdraw their money.
Spain’s new anti- austerity party Podemos also seized on Syriza’s success as a good omen for its own chances in the Spanish elections this year, claiming: ‘Hope is coming, fear is fleeing.’
And a key Ed Miliband ally claimed the victory was a ‘big kick’ to austerity plans ‘gripping’ parts of the world including Britain. Syriza’s youthful leader Alexis Tsipras, 40, said last night: ‘ Hope has made history. Greece has turned a page. Greece is leaving behind the destructive austerity, fear and authoritarianism.
‘It is leaving behind five years of humiliation and pain.’
Mr Tsipras, whose youngest child has the middle name Ernesto after revolutionary Che Guevara, has risen in popularity following years of austerity measures that have slashed wages, pensions and state spending, sending the unemployment rate to 25.5 per cent.
The politician has vowed to renegotiate the terms of the £185billion bailout from the EU and the IMF that rescued Greece from bankruptcy in the wake of the financial crisis in 2008.
Claiming the austerity measures imposed are crippling the country, he wants to write off ‘the greater part’ of Greece’s debts – suggesting it will default on at least half. If a solution is not found, it could face bankruptcy again and be forced out of the euro – a so-called Grexit – prompting a full-scale crisis for the single currency.
A raft of other populist policies includes free electricity, writing off bank debts for the poor and swingeing new taxes on the rich.
The apparent Syriza victory means that a eurozone crisis could now form the backdrop to the second successive election in Britain.
Tory Party chairman Grant Shapps yesterday raised the prospect that Britain could end up in similar to trouble to Greece if Labour wins power and fails to tackle the deficit. He said: ‘We took one route, which was to sort out, take the difficult decisions and sort out our economy.
‘Greece has not done that and you see the chaos they’re in.’
Last night David Cameron tweeted: ‘The Greek election will increase economic uncertainty across Europe. That’s why the UK must stick to our plan, delivering security at home.’
But the former Labour Cabinet minister Peter Hain welcomed the prospect of a Syriza victory, saying it would reopen the debate about austerity. Mr Hain, a close ally of Ed Miliband, said of a Syriza win: ‘It will be a big kick to the orthodoxy – the austerity – gripping most of Europe and most of the world, including Britain.’
Syriza party spokesman Panos Skourletis said victory would send a message to ‘all European peoples’, claiming democracy had suffered under ‘wild austerity’. Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras called Mr Tsipras to congratulate him after early results showed that Syriza had taken 36 per cent of the vote, ahead of the ruling conservatives on 28 per cent.
But it was still unclear if Syriza would have the minimum 151 seats needed to form a government without support from other parties.
The neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn was on course to come third. Syri- za’s anti- bailout rhetoric has renewed doubts over Greece’s ability to emerge from the financial crisis that wiped out a quarter of its economy, sent unemployment soaring and undermined the euro.
Greece’s creditors including Germany warn they will not accept any softening of the terms of the huge bailout following the 2008 crash. Mr Tsipras is known for his relaxed attitude, travelling by motorbike and preferring opennecked shirts to a suit and tie.
The former member of the youth wing of the Greek Communist Party lives in an apartment block in a working- class suburb of Athens with his partner and two children.
‘A big kick to the orthodoxy’