OPINION: Is There Any Pulse Left in Syriza?

08:35 2/10/2024 - Πηγή: iEfimerida

Syriza appears to be a party consumed by internal chaos—fraught with intrigue, divisions, backstabbing, and bitter infighting. As its members grapple with frivolous candidacies and endless online bickering, one might question whether the party is still capable of mounting an effective opposition.

Searching through the debris of their internal conflicts, I was astonished

by the issues currently preoccupying Syriza.

I had assumed they had moved beyond fringe, ultra-left concerns, but I was mistaken. Recently, they mourned the death of the terrorist Nasrallah, officially condemning what they termed his "assassination." Nasrallah was a notorious terrorist, yet Syriza chose to publicly grieve his death—an unfathomable stance for a mainstream political party.

Naturally, they also found a way to lay the blame at the feet of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Only from the far left, desperate to appease its radical fringe, would one expect such sympathy for a terrorist. Meanwhile, across the Western world—and even in parts of the Arab world—Nasrallah’s death was met with a sigh of relief, if not outright celebration.

Before this, Syriza shed tears over the death of a Pakistani man who died in police custody at the Agios Panteleimonas station.

Syriza leader Stefanos Kasselakis made a rare public appearance, personally visiting the police station to accuse the authorities of misconduct. His visit unleashed an immediate wave of online outrage from leftist activists.

However, according to the police, the man in question was found visibly injured, in a state of frenzy, and likely under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He had no identification and had been arrested earlier for attempting to assault a woman, with a prior history of domestic violence. Syriza found itself defending an individual whose criminal behavior was clear, and they issued a baseless attack on the police.

A few days prior, the left rallied to defend a group of radicals who stormed the National Technical University of Athens during an event called "Researcher’s Night." The group, incredibly, released a statement explaining that they opposed all research on principle, claiming it exists solely to serve corporate profits, the military, and the police.

In any rational, civilized society that values research, innovation, and free expression, the university rector responded appropriately—he called the police, and the perpetrators were arrested. Yet Syriza's newspaper “Avgi” condemned what it described as an "unprecedented invasion" by the riot police, decrying the supposed verbal abuse directed at the radicals.

Then came the absurd protest outside the Byzantine Museum, where Syriza members took issue with the museum’s garden being rented for the wedding reception of the former king’s daughter. The Left, along with some of its more melodramatic figures, mounted a display of outrage over an issue that had been settled long ago. Globally, museums and historic sites regularly rent out spaces for private events. A brief glance at the British Museum’s website would suffice to dispel any controversy.

This, ultimately, is Syriza’s fundamental problem. The party has lost touch with the issues that matter to the majority of the public and instead fixates on a niche agenda, one that feels increasingly irrelevant and out of step with society. It is politically troubling when a party’s anti-Western obsession leads it to defend figures like Nasrallah, theocrats, and extremists who are dragging entire nations into the abyss of religious fundamentalism.

What is most astonishing is that Syriza still insists it is fit to govern Greece.

The party believes it can legislate, represent the country in international forums, oversee economic development, and shape the future of the nation. Given the current state of affairs, that claim seems nothing short of absurd.

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