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| Greek election: Syriza victory celebrated on streets of Athens | Greek election: Syriza victory celebrated on streets of Athens |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Back in January, on the night Syriza sensationally won its first election and its voters still believed all things were possible (even an end to austerity), you could not move on Korai, the small square off Stadiou street in central Athens where the leftist party pitches its election tent. | Back in January, on the night Syriza sensationally won its first election and its voters still believed all things were possible (even an end to austerity), you could not move on Korai, the small square off Stadiou street in central Athens where the leftist party pitches its election tent. |
| When the first exit polls flashed up on the big screen in the same marquee at 7pm local time on Sunday, there were as many reporters, photographers and cameramen as there were party supporters. But as the night wore on and what had long looked the most uncertain of outcomes was steadily transformed into a dramatic, even a remarkable triumph, the crowd multiplied. | When the first exit polls flashed up on the big screen in the same marquee at 7pm local time on Sunday, there were as many reporters, photographers and cameramen as there were party supporters. But as the night wore on and what had long looked the most uncertain of outcomes was steadily transformed into a dramatic, even a remarkable triumph, the crowd multiplied. |
| Related: Greece election result: the key numbers | Related: Greece election result: the key numbers |
| By the time the centre-right New Democracy leader, Vangelis Meimarakis, conceded defeat and Syriza and its leader, the outgoing premier Alexis Tsipras, seemed on course to win almost as many seats as it had nine months ago, the cheering, chanting, flagwaving and foot-stamping throng was in electoral ecstasy. | By the time the centre-right New Democracy leader, Vangelis Meimarakis, conceded defeat and Syriza and its leader, the outgoing premier Alexis Tsipras, seemed on course to win almost as many seats as it had nine months ago, the cheering, chanting, flagwaving and foot-stamping throng was in electoral ecstasy. |
| “It’s a great, great night,” Anastasia Giamali, Syriza’s candidate in Athens’s second electoral district, shouted above the strains of the anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao belting from a loudspeaker. “Syriza suffered a major setback, there’s no denying it. | “It’s a great, great night,” Anastasia Giamali, Syriza’s candidate in Athens’s second electoral district, shouted above the strains of the anti-fascist anthem Bella Ciao belting from a loudspeaker. “Syriza suffered a major setback, there’s no denying it. |
| “But the people have shown as much responsibility as we did. They saw that we had done our best, that we had tried to help those who we defend – the poor, the unemployed, the bankrupt. This is a massive endorsement for Alexis Tsipras. He has won hearts and he has won minds.” | “But the people have shown as much responsibility as we did. They saw that we had done our best, that we had tried to help those who we defend – the poor, the unemployed, the bankrupt. This is a massive endorsement for Alexis Tsipras. He has won hearts and he has won minds.” |
| As if to prove her point, the tent erupted when Tsipras put in a brief appearance later, bounding on to the stage to tell his voters they had won a “great victory”. He had a “crystal clear” four-year mandate to “rid Greece of its corrupt old system”, he said, but warned of hard work ahead: “We won’t recover from the struggle by magic.” | As if to prove her point, the tent erupted when Tsipras put in a brief appearance later, bounding on to the stage to tell his voters they had won a “great victory”. He had a “crystal clear” four-year mandate to “rid Greece of its corrupt old system”, he said, but warned of hard work ahead: “We won’t recover from the struggle by magic.” |
| There is certainly a long and very painful road ahead: the new government is already committed, under the terms of the cash-for-reforms rescue package, to undertake a root-and-branch overhaul of the shattered Greek economy, accompanied by radical changes to the country’s health, welfare, pensions and tax systems. | There is certainly a long and very painful road ahead: the new government is already committed, under the terms of the cash-for-reforms rescue package, to undertake a root-and-branch overhaul of the shattered Greek economy, accompanied by radical changes to the country’s health, welfare, pensions and tax systems. |
| But on Sunday night it was hard to duck the euphoria. Giamali gushed that the victory really belonged to Syriza’s youthful, 41-year-old leader: “He was the first Greek prime minister to at least try to negotiate with the creditors. He was the first to admit he made mistakes. | But on Sunday night it was hard to duck the euphoria. Giamali gushed that the victory really belonged to Syriza’s youthful, 41-year-old leader: “He was the first Greek prime minister to at least try to negotiate with the creditors. He was the first to admit he made mistakes. |
| “Above all, he was the first to really tell the truth: to say: ‘This will hurt, but it is necessary and we’ll do everything in our power to soften the blow for the weakest in society – not the strongest – whom we defend.’” | “Above all, he was the first to really tell the truth: to say: ‘This will hurt, but it is necessary and we’ll do everything in our power to soften the blow for the weakest in society – not the strongest – whom we defend.’” |
| Differing explanations were proffered for the unexpectedly handsome victory, which – despite nervous faces and much anxious cigarette puffing before the exit polls arrived – few claimed they had ever doubted. | Differing explanations were proffered for the unexpectedly handsome victory, which – despite nervous faces and much anxious cigarette puffing before the exit polls arrived – few claimed they had ever doubted. |
| Related: Greek election: Syriza victory celebrated on streets of Athens | Related: Greek election: Syriza victory celebrated on streets of Athens |
| Some reckoned voters who had felt betrayed by the party – that promised to “eradicate” austerity but, with capital controls in place and an exit from the eurozone looming this summer, ended up swallowing an even harsher dose – had realised Syriza was not truly to blame. | Some reckoned voters who had felt betrayed by the party – that promised to “eradicate” austerity but, with capital controls in place and an exit from the eurozone looming this summer, ended up swallowing an even harsher dose – had realised Syriza was not truly to blame. |
| “They understood that in fact they should be angry more with the European Union and with the bailout agreement,” said Kostas Fothiadakis, who is unemployed. “That in the end they had to support Syriza, really, because they know it is the only party that speaks the truth about Europe, and that really wants change.” | “They understood that in fact they should be angry more with the European Union and with the bailout agreement,” said Kostas Fothiadakis, who is unemployed. “That in the end they had to support Syriza, really, because they know it is the only party that speaks the truth about Europe, and that really wants change.” |
| Others felt the win was down to Syriza’s loyal support among older and middle-aged voters. “Younger voters, the one who got most upset this summer, they are are easily disappointed,” said Dimitra Anagnostou, a psychiatrist. “They want everything for nothing, and straight away.” Older people understood better that “this is a war, and in a war there are many battles”. | Others felt the win was down to Syriza’s loyal support among older and middle-aged voters. “Younger voters, the one who got most upset this summer, they are are easily disappointed,” said Dimitra Anagnostou, a psychiatrist. “They want everything for nothing, and straight away.” Older people understood better that “this is a war, and in a war there are many battles”. |
| Some, too, were convinced that it was the awfulness of the opposition that had won the day. “For so many people, the alternative is just so bad,” said civil servant Ioanna Efstathiou. “At least Syriza tries. Syriza cares. The conservatives just sign on the dotted line; they have no connection with the people, no idea of the pain.” | Some, too, were convinced that it was the awfulness of the opposition that had won the day. “For so many people, the alternative is just so bad,” said civil servant Ioanna Efstathiou. “At least Syriza tries. Syriza cares. The conservatives just sign on the dotted line; they have no connection with the people, no idea of the pain.” |
| Anastasia Bagdatli, a pharmacist, said there “may have been disappointment, even resentment, with what Syriza managed to achieve in the seven months it spent in government. But believe me, there’s a hell of a lot more disappointment with the old parties, Pasok and New Democracy. They’re the ones who got us into the mess we’re now in.” | Anastasia Bagdatli, a pharmacist, said there “may have been disappointment, even resentment, with what Syriza managed to achieve in the seven months it spent in government. But believe me, there’s a hell of a lot more disappointment with the old parties, Pasok and New Democracy. They’re the ones who got us into the mess we’re now in.” |
| One of the biggest ovations of the night went to the dismal score – possibly less than the 3% threshold required to enter parliament – of Popular Unity, the breakaway party formed by a group of rebel Syriza MPs who refused to back the government during parliament’s vote to approve the draconian terms of the country’s latest €86bn latest bailout. | |
| Related: Greek election 2015: everything you need to know | Related: Greek election 2015: everything you need to know |
| “They are our comrades and we deeply regret this divorce,” said Giamali diplomatically. Then, rather more firmly: “Syriza is plainly the only realistic leftwing choice in Greece now. If you can’t provide solid answers to real-life questions, and Popular Unity can’t, then you cannot expect a high score.” | “They are our comrades and we deeply regret this divorce,” said Giamali diplomatically. Then, rather more firmly: “Syriza is plainly the only realistic leftwing choice in Greece now. If you can’t provide solid answers to real-life questions, and Popular Unity can’t, then you cannot expect a high score.” |
| At Tsipras’s final campaign rally on Thursday, the Syriza leader was flanked by Pablo Iglesias of Spain’s Podemos. Dozens of European supporters were among the celebrating crowd on Sunday, too, including Brigitte Huguen and Didier Riet from Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, who booked their holiday around this night. | At Tsipras’s final campaign rally on Thursday, the Syriza leader was flanked by Pablo Iglesias of Spain’s Podemos. Dozens of European supporters were among the celebrating crowd on Sunday, too, including Brigitte Huguen and Didier Riet from Saint-Brieuc in Brittany, who booked their holiday around this night. |
| “It gives you hope, doesn’t it, for future resistance to European financial power, to the diktats being laid down,” said Huguen. “The people of Europe must support each other. In that sense, we’re all Greeks, really.” | “It gives you hope, doesn’t it, for future resistance to European financial power, to the diktats being laid down,” said Huguen. “The people of Europe must support each other. In that sense, we’re all Greeks, really.” |
| An Italian MEP, Eleonora Forenza, said Syriza’s victory, unexpected in its scale, meant “the fight against austerity can go on. We have to build a strong European left against austerity, and this result – and Mr Corbyn in your country – they can only help.” | An Italian MEP, Eleonora Forenza, said Syriza’s victory, unexpected in its scale, meant “the fight against austerity can go on. We have to build a strong European left against austerity, and this result – and Mr Corbyn in your country – they can only help.” |
| The battle, in the form of Greece’s third bailout and the draconian conditions attached, may have been lost, Forenza conceded. “But the war can, and must, be won.” | The battle, in the form of Greece’s third bailout and the draconian conditions attached, may have been lost, Forenza conceded. “But the war can, and must, be won.” |