Anti-austerity Syriza party wins Greek election

It’s hard to tell if any of  the tweets at hashtag Syriza are from along the Danforth or elsewhere in Canada. But they run a wide gamut of opinion in the wake of the victory of the anti-austerity Syriza party in Sunday’s General Election. Mainstream reporting is fearing the worst. Greece will be a basket case in a Europe that is falling apart. Some Greek-Canadians interviewed by CP24 took a calmer view. They said Syriza’s tough-talking leader Alexis Tsipras will never be able to legislate his way out of the fiscal requirements set by the EU. Syriza’s standing with 78 percent of the votes counted is 149 parliamentary seats but 151 seats are needed for a  majority. Syriza has 38 percent of the popular vote. Yossi Gestetner ‏@YossiGestetner said Syriza can oppose austerity, “but if no one lends you money austerity it is.” A number of tweets took the view that Greeks have nothing to lose. Rok Zavrtanik ‏@RokZavrtanik tweeted  “I can’t stand media that keep talking about the radical left. Is it radical to care more about other ppl than about your pocket?”