Tsipras urges extra support for majority in House
With opinion polls suggesting that SYRIZA’s lead over New Democracy is growing, leftist leader Alexis Tsipras urged voters to give him the extra backing needed to gain a parliamentary majority in Sunday’s elections.
“An autonomous SYRIZA means a powerful Greece,” he said during speech in Patra. “A powerful SYRIZA means an autonomous Greece. It means an end to national humiliation. It means an end to the catastrophic memorandums.”
An Alco poll for To Pontiki weekly published on Wednesday put SYRIZA on 32 percent and New Democracy on 27.1 percent. The gap between the two parties had widened by 0.2 points since last week.
SYRIZA sources appeared confident of the party’s victory on Sunday but not yet clear on whether a parliamentary majority is within reach.
In his attempt to drum up support for the party, Tsipras appeared to reject all forms of possible cooperation after the elections. He dismissed potential coalition partners, such as PASOK and Potami, as “guarantors of the troika.”
“We will not govern with the troika,” he said. “Nor will we accept people who represent the troika’s views in our cabinet.”
Nevertheless, PASOK leader Evangelos Venizelos said on Wednesday that his party is willing to be part of a broader alliance with SYRIZA. “We want to be a national partner, not necessarily a government partner, but if the country needs us we are willing to help,” he told Reuters.
In an interview with Alpha TV, Venizelos said that SYRIZA and PASOK’s views on foreign policy are closely aligned.
