Synaspismos

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Synaspismos" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The Coalition of the Left, of Movements and Ecology^[3][7] (Greek: Συνασπισμός της Αριστεράς των Κινημάτων και της Οικολογίας, Synaspismós tīs Aristerás tōn Kinīmátōn kai tīs Oikologías), commonly known as Synaspismos (Greek: Συνασπισμός, Synaspismós, "Coalition") and abbreviated to SYN (ΣΥΝ), was a Greek political party of the radical New Left. It was founded in 1991 and was known as the Coalition of the Left and Progress (Greek: Συνασπισμός της Αριστεράς και της Προόδου, Synaspismós tīs Aristerás kai tīs Proódou) until 2003. In 2004 SYN was a founding member of the Party of the European Left.^[8]

SYN was the largest party of the left-wing coalition formed in 2004 called Coalition of the Radical Left (SYRIZA). SYN was dissolved in 2013.

History

Coalition, late 1980s–1991

Synaspismos emerged initially as an electoral coalition at the late 1980s, with the pro-Soviet

The disintegration of the

Although the 'experiment' seemed to have great potential, serious ideological conflicts were afflicting the new party. At the legislative elections of 1993, SYN failed by 2,000 votes to pass the limit of 3% and enter the National Parliament. But next year, Synaspismos got its highest national 'score' ever (6.26%) in the 1994 European Parliament elections. Two years later, with 5.12%, got its highest score in 1996 legislative elections.

In the

In the

On 10 February 2008 Alexis Tsipras was elected party president, replacing Alavanos, who stepped down citing private reasons. At that time Tsipras did not hold a parliamentary seat, so Alavanos remained leader of the parliamentary group. After the legislative elections in 2009, Tsipras entered Parliament and became leader of the SYRIZA parliamentary group.

The 6th Congress of Synaspismos took place in June 2010.

Election results

Hellenic Parliament

Election	Hellenic Parliament					Rank	Government	Leader
	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won	+/−
As an electoral coalition
1989 I	855,944	13.13%	New	28 / 300	New	3rd	Coalition cabinet of Tzannis Tzannetakis	Charilaos Florakis
1989 II	734,552	10.97%	2.16	21 / 300	7		Zolotas Ecumenical Government
1990	677,059	10.28%	0.69	19 / 300	2		Opposition
As a party
1993	202,887	2.9%	New	0 / 300	±0	No. 5	No seats	Maria Damanaki
1996	347,236	5.1%	2.2	10 / 300	10	No. 4	Opposition	Nikos Konstantopoulos
2000	219,880	3.2%	1.9	6 / 300	4	No. 4

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election	Votes	%	±pp	Seats won	+/−	Rank	Leader
1994	408,072	6.2%	New	2 / 25	2	No. 5	Nikos Konstantopoulos
1999	331,928	5.2%	1.0	2 / 25	±0	No. 5
2004	254,447	4.2%	1.0	1 / 24	1	No. 4

Ideological identity

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2012) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

SYN described itself as "a radical left party, inspired by the ideas of the renewal of the communist and broader left movement in Greece and in Europe. It also fights for the merging of the ecological movement along with the left, to form a strategic alliance. The party's culture has been enriched by its active participation in the movement against the Neoliberal Capitalist Globalization."

Synaspismos aspired to be a "canopy party"; where, under the party flag, one could find people of varying ideological and theoretical backgrounds. Therefore, SYN members were encouraged to form, or participate in, intra-party platforms on the basis of kinship in ideology. Platforms mounted open discussions and published magazines, but might not work against party consensus decisions.

Note: the exact word used is "τάσεις" ("tendencies"), but the term platform is more fitting in English.

Tendencies

This section does not cite any sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2014) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)

The role of the platforms was vital especially in congresses, because each of them proposed a thesis on party strategy and presented its own ballot of candidates for the National Committee. In the National Committee elected by the last Congress (5 February 2008), the rank (in terms of representation) was the following: "Left Current" (mainstream western Marxism, party center-left), "Renewing Wing" (radical social democracy, party right), the "Red-green Network" (eco-Marxism, party left) and the "Initiative" (eurosceptic Marxism, party extreme left). Since 2004 the Left Stream, the Red-greens and the Initiative formed the so-called Left Majority, which was responsible for moving the party to more radical leftist positions.

• Left Unity (democratic socialist, supporting Alexis Tsipras), 50.63% in the last congress^{[citation needed]}
• Left Current (communist, eurosceptic), 29.83% in the last congress^{[citation needed]}
• Renewing Wing (democratic socialist; most of its members left Synaspismos and founded Democratic Left), 17.23% in the last congress ^{[citation needed]}
• Red-Green Network (eco-socialist, communist), participated with the Left Unity list in the last congress^{[citation needed]}
• Initiative for the Left Recomposition (communist, eurosceptic), 1.16% in the last congress^{[citation needed]}

Representation and international alliances

The party had members in the National and

Well-known executive members of Synaspismos were:

• The Athens daily newspaper ΑΥΓΗ (Dawn)
• The Athens radio station "105.5 FM – Στο Κóκκινο" (In Red).
• The "Nicos Poulantzas" Institute for Political Research
• The Archive of Modern Social History (ΑΣΚΙ)

Structure

The structure of SYN consists of three levels:

• Local: City, village or trade union committees, responsible for everyday matters at the workplace and neighborhood level, and deciding on issues of local interest.
• Prefectural: The Prefectural Administration is elected by the members of the local committees and co-ordinates local committee work.
• Nationwide: The National Committee (Central Political Committee (CPC)) is elected by the Party Congress, held every three years. It exercises the central administration of the party and convenes almost every month. Major decisions are usually taken at this level.
  • The Secretariat is elected by the CPC among its members, and oversees three duties: to represent the party in media outlets and in negotiations with other parties; to prepare CPC sessions; and to co-ordinate party work at the nationwide level. Though somewhat similar to the Politbüro of old-style communist parties, its role is not nearly as dominant. Usually the members of the Secretariat are working full-time for the party.
    • The Chairperson of SYN is elected by the Congress and was a primus inter pares member of both the CPC and the Secretariat.

SYN youth

SYN's youth organisation was

(ENDYL).

Leaders

No.		Leader	Portrait	Term of office
	1	Charilaos Florakis		8 April 1989	18 March 1991
	2	Maria Damanaki		18 March 1991	19 December 1993
	3	Nikos Konstantopoulos		19 December 1993	12 December 2004
	4	Alekos Alavanos		12 December 2004	11 February 2008
	5	Alexis Tsipras		11 February 2008	10 July 2013

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Synaspismos.

• Official website (in Greek and English)
• Radio Station In Red live Archived 10 April 2006 at the Wayback Machine
• Institute Nikos Poulantzas
• ASKI archives, currently only in Greek
• Kitsikis/article Grèce. Le Synaspismos tiraillé entre social-démocratie et anarchisme, Grande Europe, no.16, janvier 2010, La Documentation Française. Read on Line