By Stelios Bouras And Alkman Granitsas
ATHENS-- Alexis Tsipras, sworn into office as Greece's new prime
minister a day after his radical leftist Syriza party won a
resounding election victory, swiftly forged a coalition government
with the aim of shedding European-imposed austerity policies.
Syriza has little in common with its coalition partner--the
small, right-wing Independent Greeks party--other than a fierce
opposition to the austerity measures Greece embarked on in exchange
for bailouts from its eurozone partners and the International
Monetary Fund. Still, the common bond on that front signals tough
negotiations with Greece's creditors over its debt repayments in
the months ahead.
Together, Syriza and Independent Greeks will jointly control 162
seats in Greece's 300-seat legislature. The Independent Greeks are
also expected to hold at least one cabinet position in the new
government, the details of which are likely to be unveiled on
Tuesday.
Mr. Tsipras, who was sworn in as Greece's new prime minister in
the afternoon, promised that he would give his all "to protect the
interests of the Greek people."
Syriza staked its election campaign on repudiating the steep
budget cuts and tax increases that Greece agreed to in exchange for
a financial rescue. It has promised, first, to deliver a spending
package aimed at Greece's struggling poor, and then to use money
now earmarked for debt payments on social programs in Greece.
But the new government faces a race against the clock: In July
and August Greece must repay some EUR7 billion ($7.9 billion) in
bonds held by the European Central Bank. Without fresh aid from its
creditors, Greece doesn't have the cash to pay off those bonds.
While Syriza and Independent Greeks have different policies on
issues such as illegal immigration and public order that could test
the unity of the coalition, their joint opposition to Europe on
austerity could carry them through the first delicate months of
negotiations.
"There are significant differences between them, but they could
take some time to appear. This may provide them with time to secure
benefits from creditors which would then be pumped directly into
the economy," said John Dimas, at STR, an Athens-based
communications consultancy.
Mr. Tsipras's coalition ally, the Independent Greeks' party
leader Panos Kammenos, is in many ways his polar opposite: a
nationalistic, right-wing, archconservative, with strong
anti-immigrant views and a deep antipathy to Germany.
Known for his conservative social views, the 49-year-old Mr.
Kammenos doesn't accept the separation of church and state in
Greece and opposes civil unions for homosexual couples. Mr.
Kammenos opposes giving Greek citizenship to non-Greeks--including
children born on Greek soil--and wants to see taxes on the rich
lowered as a way to stimulate investment. Those are all views that
are at odds with coalition partner Syriza.
On foreign affairs, Mr. Kammenos is known for his hard-line
stance. He is a harsh critic of rival Turkey(and has been declared
persona non grata by the Turkish government)and has criticized
Syriza for kowtowing to Ankara on issues relating to the Muslim
minority in Greece.
But Mr. Kammenos is, above all, a vocal opponent of the
austerity program Greece has implemented over the past five years
in exchange for two international bailouts. He founded Independent
Greeks in early 2012 after breaking with his former party--the
center-right New Democracy--after the party switched positions and
backed the austerity program. In interviews he has referred to
German economic hegemony over Europe as "the Fourth Reich."
And like many Greeks, Mr. Kammenos blames Berlin for prescribing
the bitter economic medicine Greece has been forced to swallow that
has left a quarter of Greeks jobless, and bankrupted tens of
thousands of small businesses.
Pointedly, Mr. Kammenos launched Independent Greeks in the
central Greek town of Distomo: a place steeped in historical
symbolism for many Greeks. In 1944, the town was the site of a
World War II Nazi atrocity.
The pressure to compromise with Greece's creditors will be
intense for the new coalition. Under the bailout program's rigorous
schedule, Greece is required to complete a review of its progress
with the so-called troika of bailout inspectors by the end of
February. Mr. Tsipras has said he doesn't recognize the troika's
authority.
European officials said that it was too early for ministers to
discuss possible points of compromise with a Syriza government,
even though the election outcome was much clearer than many had
expected.
Jeroen Dijsselbloem, the head of the group of eurozone finance
ministers, said that the minsters' group had been slated to discuss
a possible extension of Greece's current bailout program. But he
warned that there was little appetite to forgive the country's
official debt.