May 7, 2012
Greece's inconclusive elections Sunday had at least one clear winner: Alexis Tsipras, the charismatic, 37-year-old head of the Coalition of the Radical Left and the new force to reckon with in Greek politics.
Vaulting from a marginal and sometimes shrill opposition figure just two years ago, Mr. Tsipras led his party, Syriza, to second place in the polls Sunday, just two percentage points behind the winning center-right New Democracy, and relegating the once all-powerful Socialist, or Pasok, party to third place.
Syriza, which campaigned against the austerity policies championed by Greece'e European partners, more than tripled its share of the vote in the last elections in 2009 to 16.8% Sunday. And in the process, Mr. Tsipras has won a seat at the table on forming a new Greek government—something that seemed an unlikely proposition just a few days ago.
"We never expected such percentages," a party official said. "When the election results came in it was actually a bit frightening, but the message from the electorate is clear. They want a radical change on how this country is run, they want an end to the brutal austerity and we are ready to take on the challenge."
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