Zum politischen Machtwechsel in Griechenland: die Parlamentswahlen von Januar 2015 aus einem kritischen Blickwinkel

Abstract

The Greek parliamentary elections from January .2015 led to a foreseeable change in government. The coalition government between the conservative Nea Dimokratia and of the socialist PASOK, become replaced. by a coalition government between the left wing coalition party SYRIZA and the extreme right-wing ANEL ( "Independent Greeks"}, The cause for this radical political shift is located in the latent anger of the citizens in relation to the political elites of Greece and their politics in the last years. Logically this broad anger found now his expression in the ballot box. This described anger is related with the hard consolidation program taken by the creditors of Greece (EU, ECB, IMF) to restrain the country's fiscal crisis. The Intention of the restructuring program is to lead as soon as possible Greece out from the debt. In fact however the Result of this Politics is that around a quarter of the Greek population is drifted in poverty now. The rehabilitation target within a fairly short period, to promote competitiveness and make Greece more attractive as an investment location was coupled with massive wage cuts, pensions cuts , tax increases and more flexible working conditions. The new coalition government of SYRIZA and ANEL even though no more in the Position of a hard Opposition, promotes in the one hand a social Messianism in the sense of a liberation of the society of their distress and, on the other hand the hope of a settlement of the Greek dept by a conference of creditors or by favourable arrangements of the EU partner countries. The announcements of the new Government is also coupled with a whole set of ambitious programs for social and economic reconstruction and development of the country . In conclusion, this version of the political changes in Greece is also embedded in a obsession of the return in the good times of the past. In this sense, it can be assumed that this political change has no trend-setting character for Greece but represents a transition phase in an process of cushioning the social anger. However, it remains to be seen whether the consequences of this transition process for Greece are portable.