Birth of a new order in Greece?

[TonyKath]

In yesterday's Observer:

Last weekend a fresh generation of radicals swept a leftwing party to power. We pick out the key moments that symbolise the birth of the new order.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/01/welcome-to-greece-style-revolution-syriza

Tony

[Jolly Roger]

If Brussels and Berlin try to ignore or override Syriza’s democratic mandate by refusing to write off part of the debt (cut it to 110% of GDP and allow more time to recover, say some) then some form a debt default becomes inevitable, probably followed by a Grexit which 75% of Greeks, including Tsipras, say they don’t want. It sounds like having your cake and eating it, but that’s what bad politics ends up promising.

The grownups here must be the Germans, led by uber-grownup Angela Merkel, the woman with the cheque book. They must be more imaginative. They allowed the Greeks to borrow all that money safely inside the eurozone after 2001 thanks to financial figures that Goldman Sachs wickedly helped Athens to massage. It should never have been let in: the European Central Bank (ECB), France and Germany too, are Wonga payday lenders: they had a moral duty to prevent irresponsible fiscal policies and lending. They failed.

Trouble is they have domestic politics too. France is weak, German voters, their bankers and their tabloids, are already angry (wrongly) over the ECB’s quantitative easing (QE) programme to ease recession. They think they’re being stuffed again. Act too tough and they risk damaging Germany too. Scary times, an opportunity for resurgent nationalism all round – Greece too.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/blog/2015/jan/28/greece-mandate-germany-syriza-rhetoric

[U4ea]

"Gold Sacks" as some call them certainly had a big hand in what happened by massaging figures.

Syriza didn't win the election, they simply won the most seats, but not enough to form a Government on their own. I suspect there will be huge external pressure to force a rift that will isolate Siriza and leave them as a Minority Government. Then it will all be up in the air again.