On the eve of critical elections for Greek municipalities and the European Parliament, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and major opposition Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA) leader Alexis Tsipras slugged it out, saying the country’s future is at stake.
In a second round run-off, voters will pick winners in the ballots for cities, towns and regional administrations as well as picking the country’s European representatives, a race that could decide whether Greece would have snap elections as well.
With SYRIZA leading in two new opinion polls, Samaras said the Leftists face the risk of undermining a recovery from a crushing economic crisis by threatening to push for early elections if it wins big in the European vote.
The Prime Minister, who leads the New Democracy Conservatives, nodded to the harsh austerity measures he continued to impose on orders of international lenders and said he felt the pain of pay cuts, tax hikes, slashed pensions and worker firings.
Speaking in Ioannina, northwestern Greece, he asked voters to back New Democracy so he could finish the job of economic recovery he said is on the way.
“I know that despite the bitterness or disappointment you may feel, deep down in your souls you know that I am giving the last ounce of energy I have to ensure that our country stands on its feet and does not return to the nightmare we experienced,” he said.
Samaras accused Tsipras of irresponsibility and called on Greeks to reject his “opportunism.” “His little game regarding early elections could blow everything into the air,” said the prime minister.
In an interview on SKAI TV, Tsipras said if SYRIZA wins by 4-6 points it would repudiate the ruling parties – New Democracy and its coalition partner the PASOK Socialists – and voters would want early elections two years before the government’s term runs out in 2016.
PASOK chief Evangelos Venizelos, who is Samaras’ Deputy Premier/Foreign Minister, has warned the government could fall if his party, which was at 3-5 percent in polls before aligning itself with a new center-left political alliance Elia (Olive Tree) could fall if the Socialists are spurned.
Venizelos also is facing a growing rebellion after his continued backing of austerity made the party’s popularity plummet while elevating him personally in the government with prime positions. The government has only a two-vote majority in Parliament and is under pressure.
Two surveys put SYRIZA ahead but gave it a smaller margin of victory than Tsipras said was key enough to force snap elections. A Rass poll for Parapolitika.gr gave SYRIZA a 25.3-22.5 percent lead over New Democracy, while a Pulse survey for To Pontiki newspaper made it 25-22.5 percent for SYRIZA.
In a final bid to convince voters about his message, Samaras is due to deliver a speech at a rally in Syntagma Square on May 23.
Tsipras rallied his forces the night of May 22 at a gathering in Omonia Square, which had been home to many illegal immigrants and was a den of drug dealing and crime before the government began a clean-up of the area.
He appealed to young voters, who face 60 percent unemployment, and reached out to Greeks from other parties, which critics said included the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn whose leaders have been arrested or jailed while awaiting trial on charges of running a criminal gang.
“Every citizen of this country, regardless of his political past and how he voted until now, is now called to respond to the patriotic and democratic invitation from SYRIZA,” said Tsipras, who promised to restore the minimum wage to 751 euros from 683 euros per month and increase monthly unemployment benefits to 461 euros from 360 euros.
He didn’t say where he would get the money as Greece is essentially broke and relying on the last vestiges of 240 billion euros ($330.7 billion) in two bailouts from the Troika of the European Union-International Monetary Fund-European Central Bank (EU-IMF-ECB).
He said the vote must be seen as a vote on whether the ND-PASOK coalition should remain in power while Samaras has pleaded for stability and time for recovery and said SYRIZA would bring chaos.
“It is a historic referendum, like the one 40 years ago that got rid of the palace [royal family],” Tsipras said. “This one will rid us of another corrupt palace, that of the economic and political establishment that led our country to the destructive memorandums.”
He will finish his campaign on the night of May 23 in Iraklio, Crete at a rally.
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