The Militant - October 22, 2007 -- Rightist and leftist parties make gains in Greek elections

Vol. 71/No. 39 October 22, 2007

Rightist and leftist parties
make gains in Greek elections

BY GEORGES MEHRABIAN
AND MARIA PLESSA
ATHENS—Parties on both the left and right of bourgeois politics scored electoral gains in Greece’s September 16 parliamentary elections, while the two parties that have shared power for three decades saw their votes decline.

The conservative New Democracy (ND) party was reelected, and the opposition social-democratic Pan-Hellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) came in second. The two parties have alternated in government since the fall of a dictatorship here in 1974. Both saw their vote percentages fall slightly since the last elections in 2004: ND got 41.8 percent of the vote, down from 45.4; and PASOK got 38.1 percent, down from 40.6.

The Communist Party of Greece (KKE) came in third with 8.2 percent of the vote, followed by the Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) with 5 percent. The ultraright Popular Orthodox Rally (LAOS) got 3.8 percent. All five of these parties will have seats in parliament.

SYRIZA increased its vote by 54 percent since 2004, while KKE increased its share by 38 percent. This is the highest combined total for the two parties since 1974. LAOS increased its vote by 42 percent and made it into parliament for the first time.

Greece’s ruling class has been on the offensive against public education, social security, and the national health fund. The vote totals reflect polarization over this course.

In addition, the government’s response to devastating fires last summer undermined its credibility. Some 270,000 hectares (1 hectare = 2.5 acres) of forest and farm land were burned. The fires continued for days on end before the government began mobilizing resources. More than 66 people died, and more than 1,100 homes were destroyed. In the Peloponnesus, where olives and oil are the main agricultural product, fires destroyed 5 million olive trees, devastating thousands of farmers.

The KKE and SYRIZA played off this discontent to score electoral points. LAOS also capitalized on the unease. Giorgos Karatzferis, LAOS’s central leader, combined anti-immigrant and anti-Semitic rhetoric, opposition to Turkish membership in the European Union, and an “anti-globalization” and anti-American stance. He used populist demagogy, and claimed to admire Cuban revolutionaries Fidel Castro and Che Guevara.

The ND’s Costas Karamanlis will remain prime minister. A September 21 editorial in the Athens News said, “with a reduced majority of just 2 seats…Karamanlis…may well choose to adopt a low key approach that raises no flags to the opposition.” But privatizing education, cutting social security, and pushing through other austerity measures are on the agenda for the capitalist class here as a whole.

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