Left and right prepare for battle in new Greek elections

Anti-fascism on the streets of Athens (Pic: Guy Smallman)

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Tensions are growing on the streets of Greece ahead of fresh elections on Sunday.

The Nazi Golden Dawn party has carried out a number of racist attacks over the past week.

Anti-Nazi protests were set to take place in towns across Greece on Friday of this week. Radical left coalition Syriza and anti-capitalist group Antarsya are backing them.

There are strikes too. Workers at the Cancer and Municipal hospitals in Athens struck last week against plans to merge the two hospitals. The media workers’ union executive was meeting to decide whether to ballot for indefinite strikes, after a national strike in May.

The ideological battle is intensifying. Greek banks threaten that a return to the drachma currency will hurt ordinary people.

Panos Garganas is editor of Workers Solidarity, Socialist Worker’s sister paper in Greece. He reports, “There is so much anger with those who created the mess. It’s going to be very hard for the conservative New Democracy party to pull votes.

“The feeling is that Syriza will win, but either way there will be a coalition government.

“The question is whether the left or the right will be the main component.”