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The fact that SYRIZA managed to bring an end to its adventures with Stefanos Kasselakis \u2013 albeit it in a not very democratic way, admittedly \u2013 and to democratically elect a decent, if not brilliant, new leader in Sokratis Famellos is good news for Greece\u2019s earthquake-prone political system.<\/p>\n
Famellos is no Alexis Tsipras in terms of talent, but he is a good man to hold down the fort \u2013 at least until Angela Merkel\u2019s choice gets back in the game, as he has often insinuated he plans to do. Famellos can reorganize the party and find common ground with the renegades who split from SYRIZA and formed the New Left. Cooperation between the two may give them enough votes to keep the leftists in Parliament, but any ambitions they may have for the top spot should be forgotten.<\/p>\n
It is more than obvious that the reasons why SYRIZA was able to shoot up from single digits to govern the country \u2013 the austerity measures and Greece\u2019s near-bankruptcy \u2013 are well behind us. The tsunami of anger from 2012 onward that Tsipras rode right into the prime minister\u2019s seat has died away. Greece has returned to normalcy and economic stability.<\/p>\n
That said, anti-systemic sentiment and a penchant for conspiracy theories remain strong. That\u2019s what the small parties on SYRIZA\u2019s fringes \u2013 Course for Freedom, MeRA25 and Movement for Democracy \u2013 are banking on. As are a smorgasbord of small parties and formations on the far-right \u2013 like Greek Solution, Voice of Reason, Niki, Spartiates etc \u2013 who dream of glory and grandeur now that Donald Trump won the elections in the United States.<\/p>\n
In essence, though, the Greek political stage seems to be reverting back to a strong bipartisan split. Not to the days when the two biggest parties accounted for 80% of the popular vote, but to the days of a dominant centrist party, Kyriakos Mitsotakis\u2019 New Democracy, and a main opposition trying to win back the votes it lost, Nikos Androulakis\u2019 PASOK.<\/p>\n
After many years of painful sacrifices and major upheaval, Greece is finally sailing in calm waters again. It is surrounded by storms, but it has accomplished much that cannot be taken for granted. It is, therefore, time for the country\u2019s two most important parties \u2013 which are largely responsible for Greece\u2019s remarkable progress in the post-World War II era \u2013 to find the path to consensus and by doing so to safeguard the present and ensure the country\u2019s future stability.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n