The significance of the election of Syriza in Greece
Syriza has come to power based upon a programme that articulates the interests of a powerful section of the Greek bourgeoisie and more privileged sections of the upper-middle class.
Chris Marsden•
The Syriza government in Greece: The pseudo-left in power
The rise to power of Syriza in Greece in 2015 is a strategic experience for the entire working class. The “Coalition of the Radical Left” was elected in January based on pledges to end austerity measures demanded by the EU and the IMF.
In the ensuing eight months, however, Syriza comprehensively betrayed its election promises. After signing an agreement to extend EU austerity measures in February, only weeks after coming to power, it trampled the landslide “no” vote in the referendum on austerity that it organized in July and rammed a massive new austerity bailout through parliament.
From the beginning, the World Socialist Web Site rejected Syriza’s claims, and those of its numerous pseudo-left cheerleaders internationally, that its election marked a significant shift to the left. Based on an analysis of Syriza’s class character as representative of an upper middle-class strata, advancing a pro-capitalist program, the WSWS warned that it would rapidly renege on its promises.
This page includes many of the most important statements and articles published on the WSWS in 2015.
The warnings of the ICFI and WSWS that Syriza was a pro-capitalist party, hostile to the working class, have been completely vindicated.
The Election of Syriza
Syriza’s programme for the rescue of Greek and European capitalism
Syriza’s programme has been developed in the course of intense discussions with leading political representatives of the international financial elite.
Robert Stevens•
The election in Greece and the political tasks of the working class
Despite its left-wing facade, Syriza is a bourgeois party that rests on affluent layers of the middle class.
Peter Schwarz•
Syriza wins Greek elections
While the election result reflects broad popular opposition to austerity in Greece and across Europe, Syriza is committed to the EU, the euro and the defense of capitalism.
Alex Lantier•
Robert Stevens•
Robert Stevens•
Peter Schwarz•
Robert Stevens•
By David North
This book addresses anti-materialist and anti-Marxist intellectual and political tendencies that provide the theoretical foundations for a wide array of present-day petty-bourgeois pseudo-left and anti-socialist political movements. It includes critical material on the significance of the election of Syriza and its relationship to the politics of the pseudo-left.
Syriza’s capitulation to EU austerity
The capitulation of Syriza and the lessons for the working class
It has taken less than one month for the Syriza government in Greece to repudiate its anti-austerity election program and betray, totally and utterly, the impoverished working people whose votes placed it in power.
the International Committee of the Fourth International•
Tsipras rushes to reassure EU, banks on Greek debt
If Greece fails to reach an agreement with its creditors on €3.5 billion due in February and March, funding could be withdrawn from its banks.
Robert Stevens•
Germany demands Greek austerity as Syriza pledges “frenzy of reasonableness”
At a press conference with his German counterpart, Greece’s new finance minister pleaded with the European powers to “use us to implement the European programme.”
Robert Stevens•
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ mission to save capitalism
Varoufakis’ essay on becoming an “erratic Marxist” is a damning exposure of the political role of the new Syriza-led government in Greece and the social layer that it represents.
Chris Marsden•
Peter Schwarz•
Nick Beams•
Nick Beams•
Christoph Dreier•
Peter Schwarz•
By David North
This report report by WSWS International Editorial Board Chairman David North to the Socialist Equality Party (US) Second National Congress, delivered on July 8, 2012, is essential reading in the political and theoretical background to the events in Greece, where the pseudo-left Syriza has risen to state power and rapidly capitulated to the European banks.
Syriza’s pseudo-left supporters
A comment on demoralized opportunists
The anti-Trotskyist blog site of Alex Steiner and Frank Brenner recently reported on a meeting that they hosted in Brooklyn, New York, on April 12.
David North•
The pseudo-left covers up for Syriza’s betrayal
Aware that their brutal austerity policies will provoke mass anger as they go into effect in the coming months, Syriza officials are coming forward to defend their record.
Alex Lantier•
German Left Party votes for austerity measures in Greece
Leading representatives of the Left Party went out of their way to justify the capitulation of the Syriza-led government, which broke all its campaign promises in less than four weeks.
Peter Schwarz•
Backing Syriza, UK’s Left Unity reveals anti-working class, anti-socialist perspective
Speaking at a meeting launching Left Unity’s election campaign, a representative of Syriza’s London group called the primacy of the working class “a fantasy of the left.”
Robert Stevens•
Alex Lantier•
Johannes Stern•
Alex Lantier•
Robert Stevens•
The fraudulent “referendum” on EU austerity
The political fraud of Syriza’s referendum on EU austerity in Greece
Syriza has called the referendum to provide political cover for its last-ditch effort to work out an agreement on austerity policy with the European Union.
Alex Lantier•
A landslide “no” to EU austerity in Greece
Yesterday’s “no” vote in Greece is a massive popular repudiation of the EU and the austerity agenda it has pursued across Europe since the 2008 economic crisis.
Alex Lantier•
Lessons from Greece: The pseudo-left in power
Syriza’s betrayal is all the more brazen because it occurred within days of a popular repudiation of EU ultimatums in a referendum called by the government itself.
Joseph Kishore•
Syriza’s betrayal of the Greek working class
With extraordinary speed, the Syriza-led government has repudiated the landslide “no” vote in Sunday’s referendum by proposing €13 billion in austerity measures.
Alex Lantier•
Syriza imposes the dictates of the banks
Greek bailout deal highlights monumental scale of Syriza’s betrayal
The function of Greece’s parliament will be to rubber-stamp the transfer of real authority to Brussels and Berlin.
Chris Marsden•
Syriza government campaigns for Greek parliament to pass EU austerity package
Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras criticized the plan he agreed upon with the EU, yet called on the Greek parliament to vote for it anyway.
Alex Lantier•
Tsipras expels critics of EU austerity deal from Greek cabinet
The cabinet reshuffle aims to stabilize the Syriza government while it negotiates a new austerity memorandum with the European Union.
Alex Lantier•
Greek parliament rubber-stamps new EU austerity plan
The parliament did not even have the time to read the 900-page draft dictated by the EU, submitted to it the day before Wednesday’s vote.
Christoph Dreier, Alex Lantier•
Robert Stevens•
Robert Stevens•
Christoph Dreier and Chris Marsden•
The September 2015 re-election of Syriza
The Political Lessons of Syriza’s Betrayal in Greece
The warnings of the ICFI and WSWS that Syriza was a pro-capitalist party, hostile to the working class, have been completely vindicated.
International Committee of the Fourth International•
The way forward in the struggle against austerity in Greece
The growing opposition to Syriza’s austerity policies raises the urgent need for a comprehensive strategic and political reorientation of the working class.
Alex Lantier•
In bid to ram through austerity package, Tsipras calls snap elections in Greece
The snap election is a cynical attempt to boost Syriza’s vote before the austerity policies go into effect, in anticipation of a confrontation with the working class.
Alex Lantier•
Greece’s Popular Unity: An attempt to create Syriza 2.0
The main goal of Popular Unity is to prevent the Greek working class from drawing the lessons of the political criminality of Syriza.
Robert Stevens•
Christoph Dreier•
Christoph Dreier•
Robert Stevens•
Christoph Dreier•
The role of Yanis Varoufakis
The confessions of Yanis Varoufakis: The pseudo-left as a social type
The former Greek finance minister described in a recent interview the “air of defeat” within the Syriza leadership following the landslide “no” vote in the July 5 referendum on EU austerity.
Chris Marsden•
The anti-Marxism of Yanis Varoufakis
Varoufakis completely distorts Marx’s analysis of capitalism in order to justify his program of trying to save capitalism from itself.
Nick Beams•
Greek Finance Minister Varoufakis prostrates himself on German talk show
The appearance of the Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis on the Günther Jauch talk show was a pathetic spectacle that symbolized the bankruptcy of Syriza.
Christoph Dreier•
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis’ mission to save capitalism
Varoufakis’ essay on becoming an “erratic Marxist” is a damning exposure of the political role of the new Syriza-led government in Greece and the social layer that it represents.
Chris Marsden•
Ulrich Rippert•
Chris Marsden•
Robert Stevens•
James Cogan•
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