[D66] Syriza’s betrayal of the Greek working class

[J.N.]

http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2015/07/11/pers-j11.html

Syriza’s betrayal of the Greek working class

 With consummate cynicism, Syriza leader and Greek Prime Minister Alexis
Tsipras has sought to present this direct repudiation of the will of the
Greek people as a triumph of democracy. In fact, the outcome entirely
confirms the initial assessment of the World Socialist Web Site that the
decision to call the vote was “a reactionary fraud, designed to lend a
veneer of democratic legitimacy to the looting of Greece by the banks.”

The shameless prostration of Syriza to the demands of the EU is the
inevitable conclusion of its entire course since taking power in
January. From the beginning, it sought nothing more than marginal
modifications in EU policy. It immediately pledged not to take any
unilateral measures to repudiate Greece’s €300 billion debt, nor to
impose controls to stem the flight of capital from Greek banks.

Syriza rejected any appeal to the mass opposition to EU austerity in the
European working class. Instead, the government sought to ingratiate
itself with the major banks and European imperialist powers, as well as
the Obama administration. The European governments, led by Berlin,
treated Tsipras with well-deserved contempt, knowing that they had
absolutely nothing to fear from the Syriza leader.

When the EU withheld funds from Greece, the Syriza-led government began
looting billions of euros in cash reserves from local governments,
hospitals and universities to repay its creditors. When these funds ran
out and the EU threatened to cut off credit to Greece and expel it from
the euro zone, Tsipras called the referendum. According to an inside
account of Syriza’s discussions by the Daily Telegraph ’ s Ambrose
Evans-Pritchard, Tsipras assumed that the “yes” vote would win, allowing
him to resign, call new elections and let a new government impose the cuts.

Syriza was stunned by the landslide “no” vote delivered by the Greek
masses. At that point, only two alternatives were possible: utilizing
the vote as the starting point for a mass mobilization of the opposition
to austerity that erupted last week, or abject capitulation.
Predictably, Syriza chose capitulation.

While the threats from European banks and governments played a role,
Syriza was motivated far more by its terror over the radicalization of
the Greek working class. Tsipras and his coterie of government officials
saw the mass demonstration prior to the referendum and the landslide
“no” vote as a calamity.

Syriza’s move to impose an unprecedented EU austerity package is a
serious defeat for the working class. Not only does it place the Greek
masses at the mercy of the EU, but to the extent that the cowardly
actions of Syriza are understood as “left” politics, the most
reactionary political forces, such as the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party,
will be strengthened.

The events in Greece are a major strategic experience of the
international working class. They have clearly exposed the role of
Syriza and similar pseudo-left parties around the world, rooted in the
affluent middle class and schooled in postmodernism. According to the
professors and parliamentarians who lead these organizations, the era of
the class struggle and Marxism is over.