The situation in the Greek political landscape is continuing to unravel. Alexis Tsipras' Radical Left party has made history with the Greek Lefts first democratic election. Tsipras' failure in forming a majority government leads him to the only choice, the populist right-wing Independent Greeks Party lead by Panos Kammenos.
Will this “Frankenstein” government be able to withstand the pressure, this is certainly the question on everyones lips.
“From this moment the country has a government. The Independent Greeks give a vote of confidence to the Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, said Panos Kammenos, leader of the populist anti-bailout right wing Independent Greeks party after meeting with Alexis Tsipras at SYRIZAs headquarters in Koumoundourou square.
The leader of the Independent Greeks spoke about an agreement based on principles.
“I want to announce that from this moment the country has a government. The Independent Greeks give a vote of confidence to the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The Prime Minister will announce the government in which the Independent Greeks will be part of. All Greeks are waking up to a new day.
There is an agreement based on principle just as the Greek people wanted it through their election choice, ” said Panos Kammenos after his meeting with the president of SYRIZA.
After agreeing on a coalition government with Kammenos and his Independent Greeks at noon (EET) Alexis Tsipras will receive the presidential mandate to form a government from Greek President Karolos Papoulias at 15:30 (EET) at the Greek Presidential Palace. Since he will have the support of the Independent Greeks, Tsipras’ inauguration as Prime Minister will follow thereafter.
The new Greek government will be announced and will then be sworn in by the Greek President. On Thursday the 5th February the Greek Parliament will convene and a vote of confidence will be given to the new government. Following this, procedures will commence to elect a President of the Republic.
How did it all happen?
SYRIZAs electoral victory is one for the Greek history books. Since it is the first time that a Left wing party has been democratically elected to govern and it is the first time the Left has defeated the Right in the history of Greece.
The victory of the Left of course puts SYRIZAs leader Alexis Tsipras face to face with a particularly difficult situation and extremely difficult circumstances not only within the country but also with lenders and partners.
Tsipras’ life is made all that more difficult since the majority achieved by his party is quite literally marginal. The 149 seats achieved by his party made him ultimately turn to other parties. Tsipras made it quite clear that the only two parties he would and could form a coalition government with were The River or The Independent Greeks. It was after all self explanatory, even without the SYRIZA leaders’ clarification that he would not be willing to co-operate with either New Democracy and PASOK, never mind the Neo Nazi, Golden Dawn party and of course the KKE, Communist party (which refused any form of co-operation with the “opportunists”- in reference to SYRIZA).
Last night Alexis declared in his victory speech that he will “follow a road which would not lead to a catastrophic rupture nor to subjugation”…
Thus it was inevitable that Alexis Tsipras would turn to Panos Kammenos for help. Who needless to say, throughout his entire election campaign insinuated that he was ready to show the “young” Alexis Tsipras how to drive the train called Greece (The Independent Greeks election spot showed a small boy driving a train…). How ironic. According to the latest information The Independent Greeks will participate in the Tsipras government with two ministries, that of the Ministry of Defence and The Ministry of Pubilc Order and Citizen Protection.
So the rundown to the story takes us to around 2am on the 26th January, when Tsipras called Kammenos, the River and KKE.
And the rest is history as they say. But in this case, it really is a true moment in Greek History.
