Slow death or a second chance?

Greek leftist Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras waits for a meeting with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou after the general election in Athens, Greece, on May 24, 2023. [Louiza Vradi/Reuters]

SYRIZA is in intensive care and the prognosis for the leftist opposition is not good. Will it suffer a slow death or will it make a recovery and get a second chance? Is there a cure and, if so, will it work for this particular patient under these particular circumstances?

The first blow came from voters who were disgruntled by how it governed; the injury only grew bigger due to its inability to serve as an effective opposition and became dire with its vague pre-election campaign message.

Its 15-point drop from 35% in 2015 to 20% last Sunday is huge, though not unheard of in Greek politics. The two other major, and historic, parties have been similarly punished in recent years: PASOK, which nosedived from 44% in 2009 to below 5% in 2015, and New Democracy, which saw support plummet from 45% in 2004 under Kostas Karamanlis to 18% in 2012 under Antonis Samaras.

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