Greece elections: Can Prime Minister Tsipras rise again?

By Richard GalpinBBC News, Athens
  • 19 September 2015
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  • From the sectionEurope
Just nine months after Alexis Tsipras, the young, charismatic leader of the radical left-wing party Syriza, swept to power in Greece, he now faces the electorate in another general election, which this time looks like it could be a close race.
Most opinion polls indicate the conservative party New Democracy and Syriza are running very close.
But unlike last January's election, there is little excitement about Sunday's vote; campaigning has been lacklustre and the response of the electorate muted.
Syriza's high noon has passed, the party and its leader bruised by their experience in government.
Mr Tsipras' decision to abandon the anti-austerity stance which had propelled him into government, and instead sign a bail-out deal with Greece's European creditors, fractured Syriza, with 25 MPs setting up their own parliamentary party.
Former Greek Prime Minister and Syriza party leader Alexis Tsipras at the final campaign rally prior to Sunday's general election at Syntagma square in Athens (18 September 2015)Image copyrightReuters
Image captionSome pundits say that Mr Tsipras will prevail in the vote despite his plunging popularity ratings
A man pushes his bicycle election posters in Athens (18 September 2015)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionCampaigning ahead of the vote has been lacklustre
Supporters wave flags as former Greek prime minister and leader of leftist Syriza party Alexis Tsipras delivers his speech during the final campaign rally prior to Sunday's general elections at Syntagma square in Athens (18 September 2015)Image copyrightReuters
Image captionIt is estimated that 10% of voters have yet to make up their minds which party they will support
Since then his popularity ratings have fallen.
On the streets in Athens, people talk of their disappointment with Mr Tsipras.
One man angrily highlights how the Syriza leader signed the bailout deal shortly after a referendum, in which more than 60% of Greek voters rejected the austerity measures European creditors wanted to impose.
In a bland, smoke-filled office in the heart of Athens, the senior Syriza official and former economy minister, Giorgos Stathakis, admits they have lost a lot of supporters - perhaps 30%.
Many of these, he says, are young people who were crucial in bringing Syriza to power in January.
"That's why I'm campaigning primarily with the younger generations," he says. "Some are critical of what we did as a government in this seven-month period. [But] given our options we did the right thing and we have to continue.
"Alexis [Tsipras] will be forgiven."

Ahead of their rivals

For all that has gone wrong, Mr Stathakis is convinced his party still has a good chance to come to power.
Evangelos Meimarakis, leader of the conservative New Democracy party, at a pre-election rally in Athens (17 September 2015)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionSyriza is facing a strong challenge from the conservative New Democracy party led by Evangelos Meimarakis
Supporters of Greek Communist Party wave flags of their party as they attend a pre-election rally at central Syntagma square in Athens (18 September 2015)Image copyrightEPA
Image captionThe elections will be contested by a variety of parties from Communists on the left...
Greece's Golden Dawn extreme right party leader Nikos Michaloliakos addresses his supporters at a pre-election rally in Athens (16 September 2015)Image copyrightAFP
Image caption...to the extreme right wing Golden Dawn party led by Nikos Michaloliakos
He claims their own polls indicate they have a lead of 3-4% over their nearest rivals, New Democracy.
It is a view shared by the independent Athens-based journalist and analyst John Psaropoulos, who argues that while Syriza has faced a lot of criticism, it has also benefited from the resentment felt by many Greeks at the way Brussels treated its ministers during the bailout negotiations.
"So I expect they will still come out on top of New Democracy in this election," he says.
"I don't think they will do as well as the 36% they got in January, but probably they will get in the high 20s or maybe 30%."
In an upmarket office near the city centre, a top New Democracy MP, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, dismisses all this, claiming it is his party which has the momentum in this election.
"A couple of months ago we were trailing by 10%, now we're tied," he says.
Accusing Syriza of grossly mismanaging the economy while it was in power, he argues it is only a centre-right party like his that can bring the long, painful financial crisis to an end.
It is estimated that 10% of voters have yet to make up their minds which party they will vote for.
Their choices on Sunday are likely to determine the outcome of this election.bbc