In a few short years SYRIZA has gone from a coalition of leftist groups with single digit support to the main opposition party in Greek politics, currently leading in opinion polls over governing New Democracy. Following its rapid rise, one of the main challenges the party faces is convincing the electorate that it is a mature political force actually capable of governing.
That case is certainly not helped by candidates such as Theodoros Karipidis who is currently attracting the wrong sort of attention. Recently SYRIZA announced that Karipidis would be its candidate for the position of Regional Governor of Western Macedonia in upcoming local elections in May.
As has been reported by a number of Greek news sites, the local TV journalist has made a number of controversial statements via his Facebook page including the following which draws a bizarre link between the name of Greece’s new state broadcaster (established by the current government after the shock closure of the former state broadcaster, ERT) and Hanukkah.
Below is the Facebook post translated in full:
The importance of words... and names!!!(This is probably why he was slammed by the Jewish Lobby).
The new public TV channel in Greece will be called NERIT which is a Jewish name for girls and means ‘candle’ in Hebrew
The name Nerit is related to Berit (as we say Bene Berit...). It is rumoured that the director of the broadcaster will be [journalist Alexis] Papahelas, the Bilderberg star. A most suitable choice…
One by one Samaras is lighting the candles (Nerit) of the Jewish seven-candled menorah and is setting Greece alight… following his visit to the Synagogue of Thessaloniki (what an irony… in the land of Alexander the Great) he is arranging a new Hanukkah against the Greeks… Good afternoon!
Karipidis has also been criticized for having invited Ilias Kasidiaris, the Golden Dawn MP on his TV show.
In a statement Karipidis denied any affinity with Golden Dawn, but his controversial comments have led some SYRIZA officials to resign in protest and others to call on the party to reassess his candidacy in the run up to the municipal and European elections in May.
The SYRIZA political secretariat, one of the party’s higher bodies, is set to convene in an emergency session to decide on whether the party will keep Karipidis on the ballot.
The region of Western Macedonia covers almost 10,000 square kilometers and has a population of over 300,000 people. Regional governments are responsible for overseeing and implementing a range of development programs including European funded infrastructure works worth tens of millions of euros.
The coming municipal and regional elections are highly politically significant as they will show whether voters’ anger against New Democracy will translate into a massive vote in favor of SYRIZA.
Alexis Tsipras, the party’s leader is attempting to transform the elections into an unofficial referendum on the policies of current government.
Analysts say SYRIZA has endorsed non-party members for the coming elections in an attempt to broaden its influence and appeal to voters beyond the traditional left. But the move appears to have backfired so far. The controversy over Mr Karipidis follows a similar uproar over the candidacy in the municipal elections of Odysseus Voudouris, a former PASOK official close to George Papandreou who supported the initial Memorandum (which SYRIZA has always vehemently opposed).
UPDATE TO ARTICLE:
The Greek opposition party responded to the American Jewish Committee expressing its surprise at the allegations of political extremism and entrenched anti-Semitic views, given the party’s vocal stance against neo-Nazis, fascists and holocaust deniers. SYRIZA further argues that the AJC’s rhetoric is very similar to that of the government and New Democracy’s propaganda.
The opposition party concedes that instances of anti-Semitism and racism are on the rise and explains that New Democracy is harboring extremist elements, such as the PM’s consultant Takis Baltakos who had argued that ND could form a coalition with Golden Dawn and Konstantinos Plevris, who has repeatedly praised Nazism in Greece.
Plevris was also a major political influence on the current Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis. SYRIZA further notes that New Democracy MP Makis Voridis had succeeded Golden Dawn’s Nikos Michaloliakos in the leadership of the far right youth party EPEN and became a well-known anti-Semite in Greece in his youth.
SYRIZA also cites the Guardian, which recently accused the Samaras government of harboring ideas "dangerously close" to those of Golden Dawn and suggested that the AJC should find out more about the Samaras administration it praises before making future accusations.
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