Alexis Tsipras wound up his campaign to be re-elected Greek prime minister by declaring his victory would strike a blow for Europe’s left, as final polls on Friday gave him a slim lead.
The return of his SYRIZA party to power after today’s vote would deliver “a key message for Europe,” Tsipras told thousands of supporters in Athens during his final electoral rally.
“Do we want a Europe of austerity or one of solidarity and democracy? The result [of the vote] will be a key message for Europe,” he said.
Flanked by the leader of Spain’s anti-establishment Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, and other EU politicians, the charismatic 41-year-old slammed the conservative leaders of Germany and Spain.
“The struggle to change Europe continues,” he said, hailing those who are sheltering refugees fleeing war and persecution.
However, as thousands of mostly young supporters turned out on a hot Athens night for the rally, Tsipras’ flamboyant former minister of finance Yanis Varoufakis said he would be voting for Euroskeptic rivals who have broken away from SYRIZA.
Tsipras, in a white shirt and with his sleeves rolled up, said that today “we will sweep away the old,” an apparent reference to his main rivals for government office, the established conservative New Democracy party led by Vangelis Meimarakis.
The vote would show “if the old system that governed for 40 years is going to return, or if we are going to take a step forward,” he said.
“The people will say no to this old system of corruption, no to the enshrining of the oligarch establishment,” he added.
Tsipras won office in January with 36.3 percent of the vote on an anti-austerity ticket, but then upset supporters in July with a U-turn cash-for-reforms deal with Greece’s international creditors, despite winning a huge “no” vote in a referendum on the issue.
Even after the broken promises, many voters believe he has their interests at heart — a break with past leaders they perceive as corrupt and linked to powerful interests.
“SYRIZA will not only win Sunday, it will have a mandate to form a strong and stable government ... to go ahead with the reforms the country needs,” Tsipras said.
Today’s third vote in Greece in a year was called after Tsipras resigned last month following a rebellion inside SYRIZA that saw an anti-EU faction quit to form a new party, stripping the party of a fifth of its members of parliament.
Hours before a midnight ban on voter surveys, four polls forecast victory for Tsipras over Meimarakis by margins ranging from 0.7 to 3 percentage points.
However, Greek pollsters called for caution after being burned in earlier votes, with the gap falling within some of their margins of error.
“It’s the first time I’ve felt unable at this point to make a forecast,” political columnist Paschos Mandravelis told reporters.
Polls show the two main parties garnering between 25 and 30 percent of the vote, with the remaining parties picking up single-digit scores, meaning neither is expected to be able to form a majority government.
At his last campaign rally on Thursday, Meimarakis urged Tsipras to form a coalition government, an offer already rebuffed.
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