The results of the European elections in Greece confirmed the general trends expressed in the first round of the Municipal and Regional elections (See Greek local elections confirm sharp class polarisation to the left and the right). Those parties that are either part of or are associated with the government, New Democracy (ND), PASOK and DIMAR suffered a clear defeat, as opposition to government policy among wide sections of the electorate was evident. But why did SYRIZA not benefit from this?

Today another interview with Alan was published in a Greek paper. The paper is called "Εfimerida ton Syntakton” (Journal of Editors) (www.efsyn.gr) and is produced by a cooperative of journalists and press workers who used to work for the centre-left "Eleftherotypia" newspaper, which closed in 2011. The paper, which is run  under self-management and is self-funding, sells 25.000-30.000 copies daily.

The first round in the local elections, held last Sunday, May 18, reveal a significant growth of parties to the left of SYRIZA, in particular the KKE, but also a shift to the right within the right-wing camp, with Golden Dawn picking up votes. What we have is a sharpening of the class polarisation within Greek society, a harbinger of renewed class conflict in the coming period. Here we provide an analysis by a Greek Marxist of the results of the first round.

In February Kostas Pliakos of the Greek magazine HOT DOC interviewed Alan Woods, posing questions about the prospects of Marxism, the nature of SYRIZA, the future of the EU, whether capitalism can recover from the present crisis, the prospects of war and the rise of the Golden Dawn in Greece.

As SYRIZA gets closer to power, its leaders are coming under immense pressure. On the one hand the Capitalists demand further attacks on the workers and, on the other hand, the working class expects SYRIZA to defend its interests. But one cannot serve two masters, Tsipras will have to choose.

How the Communist Tendency of Syriza voted at the recent meeting of the Central Committee of Syriza and the misguided choices of the ‘Left Platform’.

As our readers can see the major Greek newspaper, Proto Thema, has launched several attacks on the Greek Marxists in the Communist Tendency of SYRIZAand their programme. On this occasion we republish the programme of the Greek Marxists, initially written in 2012. This programme has many lessons for revolutionaries throughout the world.

On 12 January, one of the major Greek newspapers, published a two page article about the Greek Marxists of the Communist Tendency of SYRIZAand their programme. We publish the reply of the Greek comrades in responce to this attack.

On 19 January, for the second consecutive Sunday, the Greek newspaper “Proto Thema” - which has wide circulation in Greece - devoted 2 pages to discussing the ideas of the Greek Marxists - The Communist Tendency of SYRIZA. The real “interest” of Proto Thema, of course, is to expose the "extreme" ideas of the Marxists. However, the practical result they achieve, as you will see, is to summarize the Marxist programmeand provide it with wide circulation. What ultimately is passed from this interview to the  average reader, tormented by Memoranda and the

This article was written before the arrests of the leadership of Golden Dawn. However, the analysis it contains has been absolutely confirmed by the subsequent events. The Communist Tendency follows the developments and will publish further articles with our analysis and conclusions.

The leader of SYRIZA, Alexis Tsipras, visited Vienna recently where he spoke at the Bruno Kreisky Forum, drawing much attention. However, instead of appearing as the fiery left leader that some expected he posed as a reasonable social democrat.

The arrest of the Golden Dawn (GD) leadership as well as its MPs has naturally caused great satisfaction among labour movement and Left activists. But we must be careful not to allow this to foster illusions in the democratic nature of the bourgeois state.

Greek capitalism continues to be the weak link of the Eurozone as it is still under the “intensive care” of the EU support mechanisms for the fourth consecutive year and is in recession for the sixth consecutive year. Overall GDP decline since the crisis began will reach 25% by the end of 2013 and unemployment will reach 30%. According to the Institute of Labour (INE) of the Greek General Greek General Confederation of Labour (GSEE) it will take at least 20 years to return to the pre-crisis levels!

This morning a 34-year old anti-fascist rapper and metal workers union activist Pavlos Fyssas, was stabbed to death, by a member of the fascist organisation Golden Dawn, in a working class neighborhood near the port of Athens.  The incident comes after a series of violent attacks in recent days by members of Golden Dawn against political rivals, including communist activists. Below we publish an appeal published on this occasion by the Communist Tendency of SYRIZA.

Slavoj Zizek has built up a reputation as a respected “Marxist” academic and is seen as somewhat of a “rock star” on the left. However, his recent attempts to translate his theories into concrete policies for a possible future SYRIZA government in Greece reveal that there is nothing revolutionary in his thinking. He is in fact providing academic credibility to a modern reformist current and has become an apologist for the shift to the right on the part of the leadership of SYRIZA.