It now appears that the Syriza’s insistence that the severe nature of what the Trokia demanded meant that the Greek people had to directly decide through referendum on whether or not to comply has been replaced with the more standard ‘We can decide for you’ of electoralist politics. That is unless the letter from Tsipras offering a deal that the Financial Times has leaked is a forgery, which seems unlikely.
According to how uncritical individuals and organisations are of Syriza they are currently taking one side or another in an argument as to whether this indicates a sell out or is some new master stroke. But it reinforces our criticism of the hopes placed in electoralism and Syriza. Once more the people who elected them and those in solidarity with them across Europe are reduced to being spectators in something akin to an episode of West Wing.
It now appears that the Syriza’s insistence that the severe nature of what the Trokia demanded meant that the Greek people had to directly decide through referendum on whether or not to comply has been replaced with the more standard ‘We can decide for you’ of electoralist politics. That is unless the letter from Tsipras offering a deal that the Financial Times has leaked is a forgery, which seems unlikely.
According to how uncritical individuals and organisations are of Syriza they are currently taking one side or another in an argument as to whether this indicates a sell out or is some new master stroke. But it reinforces our criticism of the hopes placed in electoralism and Syriza. Once more the people who elected them and those in solidarity with them across Europe are reduced to being spectators in something akin to an episode of West Wing.
Leaving aside the fact that the capital flight of the last months has made it very clear that ‘Power does not lie in Parliament’ this sort of politics is not the road to building a genuine mass transformative politics that can sweep away the current system. It has become very clear that at best Syriza working within that system is limited to ‘austerity with a human face’ and now it looks like it may have to capitulate even on that.
In fact at the time of writing it looks like a capitulation has been offered but is being refused by Germany which is keen for a full humiliation. Sensing blood they want would in effect be a soft coup replacing Syriza with a new government. If the experience of Syriza in power has confirmed the limits of radical electoralism we can at least say it has also exposed the profoundly undemocratic nature not only of the EU institutions but also the political class across Europe. A political class which has almost completely taken a side in opposition to Greek parliamentary democracy, Irish politicians in particular have been keen to put the boot in.
It’s important that these maneuvers and any capitulation that may emerge are understand not as a failure of radical politics in general but rather as a consequence of the top down electoral approach that anarchists warned of at the time of the elections. Another world is possible, but not along that well trodden road that at first appears easy to the eye but only leads back to more of the same.
Updated: Tsipras just gave a TV speech re-affirming the call for a No vote. Is this because the Germans has not only blocked this apparent deal but also suggested they would not negotiate till he was gone leading to a change of position. Or was the letter either a forgery or a draft that was never intended to be sent? If anything this highlights the problem this piece discusses where we are all reduced to spectators in a confusing game between politicians.
WORDS: Andrew Flood (Follow Andrew on Twitter )
First published WSM FB 1st July