Tuesday, July 14, 2015

Alexis Tsipras: the walking dead

Zoì Konstantinopoulou may delay the vote
The situation is still evolving, so I only have a fragmentary grasp but it is already very apparent that Tsipras' humiliating surrender to Schüble's terms will break Syriza in two and is also causing major social upheaval in the Greek streets. 

The voting, initially scheduled for tomorrow, may not be held at all in due time (what in itself violates the terms of the agreement) because the President of the Parliament, Zoì Konstantinopoulou, who has declared that she cannot and will not back the deal, may delay the vote. She is the one with such power and neither Tsipras nor Schäuble ever considered consulting her. 

The list of dissidents inside Syriza's bench is growing by the moment. Twitter's rumorology talks about at least 47 MPs from this party that have already declared that they will vote against. The list may include both of Tsipras finance ministers: Yanis Varoufakis (former) and Euklid Tsakalotos (current), as well as several other ministers. So it is legitimate to wonder about how much support, if any at all, Tsipras still has in Syriza and even if the deal will be approved at all. 

The pro-German opposition has 106 seats, so, if the deal is put to vote at all, Tsipras needs to rally at least 45 of the 149 Syriza MPs for a yes vote to succeed (assuming no abstentions or absences - the coalition partner ANEL has already said they will vote "no"). This is possible, I guess, but still Tsipras and his supporters have become political walking dead and the unity of the party is forfeit. 

This is what I could gather about the Members of Parliament. The split between Tsipras and whoever still follows him and the grassrots of the party seems much much greater. The communiqué of the youth branch is very significant, calling the people to rally in the streets against the "putsch". Several regional branches of the party have already announced they will ask their MPs to vote "no".

The labor unions are not behind, the public sector unions have called a national strike tomorrow. Additionally, protests at Syntagma Square and other places are thriving and the iconic burning of a Syriza banner is symptomatic of the widespread discontent. 

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