Editorial: Changes

The results of an opinion poll in Crete indicated that SYRIZA from the start did not properly consider the pressures of the centre-left on the party.

The large percentage of the vote that KINAL/PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis received from the party base in the Movement for Change leadership election foreshadowed the fact that in the traditional bastion of his party (formerly PASOK), things will no longer be the same for main opposition SYRIZA.

In fact, developments in the progressive segment of the political spectrum have left no one indifferent.

The prospect of a higher electoral percentage has made many consider a return to their Social Democratic political home, and many voters who over the last years disappointedly chose not to vote are looking to see whether in the new opposition terrain there is a party that can express them.

Both SYRIZA and PASOK are in a transitional phase, with changes on the political and intra-party levels.

Their battle in fact is beginning again with an eye to the next general election (with a direct proportional electoral system), which will be the acid test for the party’s efforts.

Although SYRIZA cadres believed that they are safely ahead of their centre-left opponent, they now realise that their lead is dwindling.

SYRIZA is finding it difficult to pick up opposition speed and appears not to have fully understood the role of a main opposition party.

Due to its experience in governing, SYRIZA can no longer pose the dilemmas that swept it to power.

The effort to make inroads into the political base indicates that right now the Movement for Change has the momentum.

The challenge is to maintain it.