The Economist published an article mentioning that Alexis Tsipras, the leader of Greek radical left-wing opposition party, could win the next national elections and attempts to outline the profile Tsipras tries to raise.
As the magazine notes the president of SYRIZA wants to raise his profile abroad, so as to impress and attract more voters at home.
His decision to run for president of the European Commission, even though he did not succeeded to be elected, boosted his credibility in Greece, as the article mentions. The party was also benefited with a 3.8% lead over New Democracy.
Moreover, his recent trip to Vatican and the meeting with Pope Francis targeted to this direction, too.
“His audience last month with Pope Francis, party officials explained, was a “meeting of minds”. The pontiff, they said, agreed with Mr Tsipras, an atheist, about the unjust suffering caused by harsh austerity policies imposed in the wake of economic collapse, whether in Greece or, in the late 1990s, in the Pope’s native Argentina,” the article mentions.
According to the Economist, Alexis Tsipras changes his tactic now that SYRIZA has great chances of winning the elections.
“He is no longer pledging to rip up Greece’s bail-out agreement, yet many are still suspicious of his new €11 billion ($14 billion) tax-and-spend economic programme. It calls, among other things, for restoring the minimum monthly salary to €750 (about 60% higher than the average salary now being paid by cash-strapped private employers), cracking down on tax evasion, creating 300,000 new jobs and restoring Christmas bonuses for pensioners,” the article says.
On the other, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras includes his own promises in his agenda. Although he would like to go even further, he is constrained by the Troika and European partners.
“Mr. Samaras would like to follow the example of Portugal last May and finish the IMF programme early, dispensing with the last round of handouts”, argues Economist, which would enhance the power of the coalition government. However, the moment he talked about that the price of Greek bonds fell sharply.
Also, the latest polls conducted showed SYRIZA leading by 11% over New Democracy shocking the government.
